LIBRARY  ^ 

UHtviRsmr  of 

SA$TA  CRUZ      1 


LIBRARY 

OF 

RDWI 
BUCK 


38p  iftarp  Kofcerta  Eine&art 


T I S  H .    Illustrated  in  color. 

THROUGH  GLACIER  PARK.    Illustrated. 

K.    Illustrated. 

THE  STREET  OF  SEVEN  STARS. 

THE  AFTER  HOUSE.    Illustrated. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 


TISH 


T  I  S  H 


By  Mary  Eoberts  Einehart 


With  Illustrations 
by  May  Wilson  Preston 


Boston  and  New  York 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company 

wl$  Cambri&0e 
1916 


COPYRIGHT,   1912,   1913,   1915,  AND   1916,   BY  THE  CURTIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
COPYRIGHT,   1916,   BY  MARY  ROBERTS  RINEHART 

ALL   RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Published  August  igit> 


PS 


CONTENTS 

MIND  OVER  MOTOR       ..'.     ,      ,      .      ..     , 

LIKE  A  WOLF  ON  THE  FOLD     .....      .    47 

THE  SIMPLE  LIFERS      .      .      .      .      .      .      .;     .  101 

• 

TISH'S  SPY  .      .      ...      .     :.      .      »      .      .165 

MY  COUNTRY  TISH  OF  THEE — 257 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

''The  outside  edge,  by  George  I"  said  Charlie  Sands. 
"The  old  sport  1"  .      .      .      .      .      .        Frontispiece 

Without   cutting   down  her   speedy  bumped    home  the 
winner      .      ..      .      *,..      .      .      .      .44 

The  real  meaning  of  what  was  occurring  did  not  pene 
trate  to  any  of  us   . 96 

It  ended  with  Tish  stalking  off  into  the  woods  with 
the  rabbit  in  one  hand  and  the  knife  in  the  other  .      .  122 

As  fast  as  she  wet  a  bit  of  lawn,  we  followed  with  the 
pails  .      ^ ...  180 

"Get  the  canoe  and  follow.     I'm  heading  for  Island 
Eleven'1 •      •      •      •      •  21° 

"  It 's  well  enough  for  you,  Tish  Carberry,  to  talk  about 
gripping  a  horse  with  your  knees"  .       •      .      .       .  286 

"  The  older  I  get,  Aggie  Pilkington,  the  more  I  realize 
that  to  take  you  anywhere  means  ruin"  .      .      .      .  324 

"It  would  be  just  like  the  woman  to  refuse  to  come 
any  farther  and  spoil  everything" 328 


TISH 

tr 
MIND  OVER  MOTOR 


MIND   OVER   MOTOR 

HOW  TISH  BROKE   THE  LAW  AND   SOME  RECORDS 


So  many  unkind  things  have  been  said  of  the  affair 
at  Morris  Valley  that  I  things  it  best  to  publish  a 
straightforward  account  of  everything.  The  ill  nature 
of  the  cartoon,  for  instance,  which  showed  Tish  in  a 
pair  of  khaki  trousers  on  her  back  under  a  racing-car 
was  quite  uncalled  for.  Tish  did  not  wear  the  khaki 
trousers;  she  merely  took  them  along  in  case  of  emer 
gency.  Nor  was  it  true  that  Tish  took  Aggie  along  as 
a  mechanician  and  brutally  pushed  her  off  the  car 
because  she  was  not  pumping  enough  oil.  The  fact 
was  that  Aggie  sneezed  on  a  curve  and  fell  out  of  the 
car,  and  would  no  doubt  have  been  killed  had  she  not 
been  thrown  into  a  pile  of  sand. 

It  was  in  early  September  that  Eliza  Bailey,  my 
cousin,  decided  to  go  to  London,  ostensibly  for  a  rest, 
but  really  to  get  some  cretonne  at  Liberty's.  Eliza 
wrote  me  at  Lake  Penzance  asking  me  to  go  to  Morris 
Valley  and  look  after  Bettina.  ,^- 

I  must  confess  that  I  was  eager  to  do  it.  We  three 
were  very  comfortable  at  Mat  Cottage,  "Mat"  being 
the  name  Charlie  Sands,  Tish's  nephew,  had  given  it, 
being  the  initials  of  "Middle-Aged  Trio."  Not  that 

3 


TISH 


I  regard  the  late  forties  as  middle-aged.  But  Tish, 
of  course,  is  fifty.  Charlie  Sands,  who  is  on  a  news 
paper,  calls  us  either  the  "M.  A.  T."  or  the  "B.  A.'s," 
for  "  Beloved  Aunts,"  although  Aggie  and  I  are  not 
related  to  him. 
Bettina's  mother's  note  :  — 

Not  that  she  will  allow  you  to  do  it,  or  because  she  is  n't 
entirely  able  to  take  care  of  herself;  but  because  the  people 
here  are  a  talky  lot.  Bettina  will  probably  look  after  you. 
She  has  come  from  college  with  a  feeling  that  I  am  old  and 
decrepit  and  must  be  cared  for.  She  maddens  me  with 
pillows  and  cups  of  tea  and  woolen  shawls.  She  thinks 
Morris  Valley  selfish  and  idle,  and  is  disappointed  in  the 
church,  preferring  her  Presbyterianism  pure.  She  is  desir 
ous  now  of  learning  how  to  cook.  If  you  decide  to  come  I  '11 
be  grateful  if  you  can  keep  her  out  of  the  kitchen. 

Devotedly,  ELIZA. 

P.S.  If  you  can  keep  Bettina  from  getting  married  while 
I'm  away  I'll  be  very  glad.  She  believes  a  woman  should 
marry  and  rear  a  large  family!  E. 

We  were  sitting  on  the  porch  of  the  cottage  at 
Lake  Penzance  when  I  received  the  letter,  and  I 
read  it  aloud. 

"Humph!"  said  Tish,  putting  down  the  stocking 
she  was  knitting  and  looking  over  her  spectacles  at 
me  —  "Likes  her  Presbyterianism  pure  and  believes 
in  a  large  family!  How  old  is  she?  Forty?" 

"Eighteen  or  twenty,"  I  replied,  looking  at  the 
letter.  "I'm  not  anxious  to  go.  She '11  probably  find 
me  frivolous." 

Tish  put  on  her  spectacles  and  took  the  letter. 

"I  think  it's  your  duty,  Lizzie,"  she  said  when 

4 


TISH 


she  'd  read  it  through.  "  But  that  young  woman  needs 
handling.  We'd  better  all  go.  We  can  motor  over 
in  half  a  day." 

That  was  how  it  happened  that  Bettina  Bailey, 
sitting  on  Eliza  Bailey's  front  piazza,  decked  out  in 
chintz  cushions,  —  the  piazza,  of  course,  —  saw  a 
dusty  machine  come  up  the  drive  and  stop  with  a 
flourish  at  the  steps.  And  from  it  alight,  not  one 
chaperon,  but  three. 

After  her  first  gasp  Bettina  was  game.  She  was  a 
pretty  girl  in  a  white  dress  and  bore  no  traces  in  her 
face  of  any  stern  religious  proclivities. 

"I  did  n't  know  — "  she  said,  staring  from  one  to 
the  other  of  us.  "Mother  said  —  that  is  —  won't  you 
go  right  upstairs  and  have  some  tea  and  lie  down?" 
She  had  hardly  taken  her  eyes  from  Tish,  who  had 
lifted  the  engine  hood  and  was  poking  at  the  carbu 
reter  with  a  hairpin. 

"No,  thanks,"  said  Tish  briskly.  "I'll  just  go 
around  to  the  garage  and  oil  up  while  I'm  dirty. 
I've  got  a  short  circuit  somewhere.  Aggie,  you  and 
Lizzie  get  the  trunk  off." 

Bettina  stood  by  while  we  unbuckled  and  lifted 
down  our  traveling  trunk.  She  did  not  speak  a  word, 
beyond  asking  if  we  would  n't  wait  until  the  gardener 
came.  On  Tish's  saying  she  had  no  time  to  wait, 
because  she  wanted  to  put  kerosene  in  the  cylinders 
before  the  engine  cooled,  Bettina  lapsed  into  silence 
and  stood  by  watching  us. 

Bettina  took  us  upstairs.  She  had  put  Drum- 

5 


TISH  

mond's  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World"  on  my 
table  and  a  couch  was  ready  with  pillows  and  a 
knitted  slumber  robe.  Very  gently  she  helped  us  out 
of  our  veils  and  dusters  and  closed  the  windows  for 
fear  of  drafts. 

"Dear  mother  is  so  reckless  of  drafts,"  she  re 
marked.  "Are  you  sure  you  won't  have  tea?" 

"We  had  some  blackberry  cordial  with  us,"  Aggie 
said,  "and  we  all  had  a  little  on  the  way.  We  had  to 
change  a  tire  and  it  made  us  thirsty." 

"Change  a  tire!" 

Aggie  had  taken  off  her  bonnet  and  was  pinning  on 
the  small  lace  cap  she  wears,  away  from  home,  to  hide 
where  her  hair  is  growing  thin.  In  her  cap  Aggie  is 
a  sweet-faced  woman  of  almost  fifty,  rather  ethereal. 
She  pinned  on  her  cap  and  pulled  her  crimps  down 
over  her  forehead. 

"Yes,"  she  observed.  "A  bridge  went  down  with 
us  and  one  of  the  nails  spoiled  a  new  tire.  I  told  Miss 
Carberry  the  bridge  was  unsafe,  but  she  thought,  by 
taking  it  very  fast  — " 

Bettina  went  over  to  Aggie  and  clutched  her  arm. 
"Do  you  mean  to  say,"  she  quavered,  "that  you 
three  women  went  through  a  bridge  — " 

"It  was  a  small  bridge,"  I  put  in,  to  relieve  her 
mind;  "and  only  a  foot  or  two  of  water  below.  If  only 
the  man  had  not  been  so  disagreeable  — " 

"Oh,"  she  said,  relieved,  "you  had  a  man  with 
you!" 

"We  never  take  a  man  with  us,"  Aggie  said  with 

6 


TISH 


dignity.  "This  one  was  fishing  under  the  bridge  and 
he  was  most  ungentlemanly.  Quite  refused  to  help, 
and  tried  to  get  the  license  number  so  he  could  sue  us." 

"Sue  you!" 

"He  claimed  his  arm  was  broken,  but  I  distinctly 
saw  him  move  it."  Aggie,  having  adjusted  her  cap, 
was  looking  at  it  in  the  mirror.  "But  dear  Tish  thinks 
of  everything.  She  had  taken  off  the  license  plates." 

Bettina  had  gone  really  pale.  She  seemed  at  a  loss, 
and  impatient  at  herself  for  being  so.  "You  —  you 
won't  have  tea?  "  she  asked. 

"No,  thank  you." 

"Would  you  —  perhaps  you  would  prefer  whiskey 
and  soda." 

Aggie  turned  on  her  a  reproachful  eye.  "My  dear 
girl,"  she  said,  "with  the  exception  of  a  little  home 
made  wine  used  medicinally  we  drink  nothing.  I  am 
the  secretary  of  the  Woman's  Prohibition  Party." 

Bettina  left  us  shortly  after  that  to  arrange  for 
putting  up  Letitia  and  Aggie.  She  gave  them  her 
mother's  room,  and  whatever  impulse  she  may  have 
had  to  put  the  Presbyterian  Psalter  by  the  bed,  she 
restrained  it.  By  midnight  Drummond's  "Natural 
Law"  had  disappeared  from  my  table  and  a  novel 
had  taken  its  place.  But  Bettina  had  not  lost  her  air 
of  bewilderment. 

That  first  evening  was  very  quiet.  A  young  man  in 
white  flannels  called,  and  he  and  Letitia  spent  a  de 
lightful  evening  on  the  porch  talking  spark-plugs  and 
carbureters.  Bettina  sat  in  a  corner  and  looked  at  the 


TISH 

moon.  Spoken  to,  she  replied  in  monosyllables  in  a 
carefully  sweet  tone.  The  young  man's  name  was 
Jasper  McCutcheon. 

It  developed  that  Jasper  owned  an  old  racing-car 
which  he  kept  in  the  Bailey  garage,  and  he  and  Tish 
went  out  to  look  it  over.  They  very  politely  asked  us 
all  to  go  along,  but  Bettina  refusing,  Aggie  and  I  sat 
with  her  and  looked  at  the  moon. 

Aggie  in  her  capacity  as  chaperon,  or  as  one  of  an 
association  of  chaperons,  used  the  opportunity  to 
examine  Bettina  on  the  subject  of  Jasper. 

"He  seems  a  nice  boy,"  she  remarked.  Aggie's  idea 
of  a  nice  boy  is  one  who  in  summer  wears  fresh  flan 
nels  outside,  in  winter  less  conspicuously.  "Does  he 
live  near?" 

"Next  door,"  sweetly  but  coolly. 

"He  is  very  good-looking." 

"Ears  spoil  him  —  too  large." 

"Does  he  come  around  —  er  —  often?" 

"Only  two  or  three  times  a  day.  On  Sunday,  of 
course,  we  see  more  of  him." 

Aggie  looked  at  me  in  the  moonlight.  Clearly  the 
young  man  from  the  next  door  needed  watching.  It 
was  well  we  had  come. 

"I  suppose  you  like  the  same  things?"  she  sug 
gested.  "Similar  tastes  and  —  er  —  all  that?" 

Bettina  stretched  her  arms  over  her  head  and 
yawned. 

"Not  so  you  could  notice  it,"  she  said  coolly.  "I 
can't  think  of  anything  we  agree  on.  He  is  an  Episco- 

8 


TISH  

palian;  I'm  a  Presbyterian.  He  approves  of  suffrage 
for  women;  I  do  not.  He  is  a  Republican;  I'm  a 
Progressive.  He  disapproves  of  large  families;  I 
approve  of  them,  if  people  can  afford  them." 

Aggie  sat  straight  up.  "I  hope  you  don't  discuss 
that!"  she  exclaimed. 

Bettina  smiled.  "How  nice  to  find  that  you  are 
really  just  nice  elderly  ladies  after  all!"  she  said. 
"  Of  course  we  discuss  it.  Is  it  anything  to  be  ashamed 
of?" 

"When  I  was  a  girl,"  I  said  tartly,  "we  married 
first  and  discussed  those  things  afterward." 

"Of  course  you  did,  Aunt  Lizzie,"  she  said,  smiling 
alluringly.  She  was  the  prettiest  girl  I  think  I  have 
ever  seen,  and  that  night  she  was  beautiful.  "And 
you  raised  enormous  families  who  religiously  walked 
to  church  in  their  bare  feet  to  save  their  shoes ! " 

"I  did  nothing  of  the  sort,"  I  snapped. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  Aggie  put  in  gently,  "that  you 
make  very  little  of  love."  Aggie  was  once  engaged  to 
be  married  to  a  young  man  named  Wiggins,  a  roofer 
by  trade,  who  was  killed  in  the  act  of  inspecting  a  tin 
gutter,  on  a  rainy  day.  He  slipped  and  fell  over, 
breaking  his  neck  as  a  result. 

Bettina  smiled  at  Aggie.  "Not  at  all,"  she  said. 
"The  day  of  blind  love  is  gone,  that's  all  —  gone  like 
the  day  of  the  chaperon." 

Neither  of  us  cared  to  pursue  this,  and  Tish  at  that 
moment  appearing  with  Jasper,  Aggie  and  I  made  a 
move  toward  bed.  But  Jasper  not  going,  and  none 

9 


TISH 


of  us  caring  to  leave  him  alone  with  Bettina,  we  sat 
down  again. 

We  sat  until  one  o'clock. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  Jasper  rose,  and  saying 
something  about  its  being  almost  bedtime  strolled  off 
next  door.  Aggie  was  sound  asleep  in  her  chair  and 
Tish  was  dozing.  As  for  Bettina,  she  had  said  hardly 
a  word  after  eleven  o'clock. 

Aggie  and  Tish,  as  I  have  said,  were  occupying  the 
same  room.  I  went  to  sleep  the  moment  I  got  into 
bed,  and  must  have  slept  three  or  four  hours  when  I 
was  awakened  by  a  shot.  A  moment  later  a  dozen  or 
more  shots  were  fired  in  rapid  succession  and  I  sat 
bolt  upright  in  bed.  Across  the  street  some  one  was 
raising  a  window,  and  a  man  called  "What's  the 
matter?"  twice. 

There  was  no  response  and  no  further  sound.  Shak 
ing  in  every  limb,  I  found  the  light  switch  and  looked 
at  the  time.  It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
quite  dark. 

Some  one  was  moving  in  the  hall  outside  and  whim 
pering.  I  opened  the  door  hurriedly  and  Aggie  half 
fell  into  the  room. 

"Tish  is  murdered,  Lizzie!"  she  said,  and  collapsed 
on  the  floor  in  a  heap. 

"Nonsense!" 

"She's  not  in  her  room  or  in  the  house,  and  I  heard 
shots!" 

Well,  Aggie  was  right.  Tish  was  not  in  her  room. 
There  was  a  sort  of  horrible  stillness  everywhere  as 

10 


TISH  

we  stood  there  clutching  at  each  other  and  listen 
ing. 

"She's  heard  burglars  downstairs  and  has  gone 
down  after  them,  and  this  is  what  has  happened!  Oh, 
Tish!  brave  Tish!"  Aggie  cried  hysterically. 

And  at  that  Bettina  came  in  with  her  hair  over  her 
shoulders  and  asked  us  if  we  had  heard  anything. 
When  we  told  her  about  Tish,  she  insisted  on  going 
downstairs,  and  with  Aggie  carrying  her  first-aid 
box  and  I  carrying  the  blackberry  cordial,  we  went 
down. 

The  lower  floor  was  quiet  and  empty.  The  man 
across  the  street  had  put  down  his  window  and  gone 
back  to  bed,  and  everything  was  still.  Bettina  in  her 
dressing-gown  went  out  on  the  porch  and  turned  on 
the  light.  Tish  was  not  there,  nor  was  there  a  body 
lying  on  the  lawn. 

"It  was  back  of  the  house  by  the  garage,"  Bettina 
said.  "If  only  Jasper  — " 

And  at  that  moment  Jasper  came  into  the  circle  of 
light.  He  had  a  Norfolk  coat  on  over  his  pajamas  and 
a  pair  of  slippers,  and  he  was  running,  calling  over 
his  shoulder  to  some  one  behind  as  he  ran. 

"Watch  the  drive!"  he  yelled.  "I  saw  him  duck 
round  the  corner." 

We  could  hear  other  footsteps  now  and  somebody 
panting  near  us.  Aggie  was  sitting  huddled  in  a  porch 
chair,  crying,  and  Bettina,  in  the  hall,  was  trying  to 
get  down  from  the  wall  a  Moorish  knife  that  Eliza 
Bailey  had  picked  up  somewhere. 

11 


TISH 


"John!"  we  heard  Jasper  calling.  "John!  Quick! 
I've  got  him!" 

He  was  just  at  the  corner  of  the  porch.  My  heart 
stopped  and  then  rushed  on  a  thousand  a  minute. 
Then:  — 

"Take  your  hands  off  me!"  said  Tish's  voice. 

The  next  moment  Tish  came  majestically  into  the 
circle  of  light  and  mounted  the  steps.  Jasper,  with 
his  mouth  open,  stood  below  looking  up,  and  a  hired 
man  in  what  looked  like  a  bed  quilt  was  behind  in  the 
shadow. 

Tish  was  completely  dressed  in  her  motoring 
clothes,  even  to  her  goggles.  She  looked  neither  to 
the  right  nor  left,  but  stalked  across  the  porch  into 
the  house  and  up  the  stairway.  None  of  us  moved 
until  we  heard  the  door  of  her  room  slam  above. 

"Poor  old  dear!"  said  Bettina.  "She's  been  walk 
ing  in  her  sleep!" 

"But  the  shots!"  gasped  Aggie.  "Some  one  was 
shooting  at  her!" 

Conscious  now  of  his  costume,  Jasper  had  edged 
close  to  the  veranda  and  stood  in  its  shadow. 

"Walking  in  her  sleep,  of  course!"  he  said  heartily. 
"The  trip  to-day  was  too  much  for  her.  But  think 
of  her  getting  into  that  burglar-proof  garage  with  her 
eyes  shut  —  or  do  sleep-walkers  have  their  eyes  shut? 
—  and  actually  cranking  up  my  racer!" 

Aggie  looked  at  me  and  I  looked  at  Aggie. 

"Of  course,"  Jasper  went  on,  "there  being  no 
muffler  on  it,  the  racket  wakened  her  as  well  as 

12 


TISH 

the  neighborhood.  And  then  the  way  we  chased 
her!" 

"Poor  old  dear!"  said  Bettina  again.  "I'm  going 
in  to  make  her  some  tea." 

"  I  think,"  said  Jasper,  "  that  I  need  a  bit  of  tea  too. 
If  you  will  put  out  the  porch  lights  I'll  come  up  and 
have  some." 

But  Aggie  and  I  said  nothing.  We  knew  Tish  never 
walked  in  her  sleep.  She  had  meant  to  try  out  Jasper's 
racing-car  at  dawn,  forgetting  that  racers  have  no 
mufflers,  and  she  had  been,  as  one  may  say,  hoist 
with  her  own  petard  —  although  I  do  not  know  what 
a  petard  is  and  have  never  been  able  to  find  out. 

We  drank  our  tea,  but  Tish  refused  to  have  any  or 
to  reply  to  our  knocks,  preserving  a  sulky  silence. 
Also  she  had  locked  Aggie  out  and  I  was  compelled 
to  let  her  sleep  in  my  room. 

I  was  almost  asleep  when  Aggie  spoke:  — 

"Did  you  think  there  was  anything  queer  about  the 
way  that  Jasper  boy  said  good-night  to  Bettina?" 
she  asked  drowsily. 

"I  did  n't  hear  him  say  good-night." 

"That  was  it.  He  did  n't.  I  think" —  she  yawned 
—  "I  think  he  kissed  her." 


n 

TISH  was  down  early  to  breakfast  that  morning  and 
her  manner  forbade  any  mention  of  the  night  before. 
Aggie,  however,  noticed  that  she  ate  her  cereal  with 
her  left  hand  and  used  her  right  arm  only  when  abso 
lutely  necessary.  Once  before  Tish  had  almost  broken 
an  arm  cranking  a  car  and  had  been  driven  to  arnica 
compresses  for  a  week;  but  this  time  we  dared  not 
suggest  anything. 

Shortly  after  breakfast  she  came  down  to  the  porch 
where  Aggie  and  I  were  knitting. 

"I've  hurt  my  arm,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "I  wish 
you'd  come  out  and  crank  the  car." 

"  You  'd  better  stay  at  home  with  an  arm  like  that," 
I  replied  stiffly. 

"Very  well,  I'll  crank  it  myself." 

"Where  are  you  going?" 

"To  the  drug  store  for  arnica." 

Bettina  was  not  there,  so  I  turned  on  Tish  sharply. 
"I'll  go,  of  course,"  I  said;  "but  I'll  not  go  without 
speaking  my  mind,  Letitia  Carberry.  By  and  large, 
I've  stood  by  you  for  twenty-five  years,  and  now  in 
the  weakness  of  your  age  I  'm  not  going  to  leave  you. 
But  I  warn  you,  Tish,  if  you  touch  that  racing-car 
again,  I'll  send  for  Charlie  Sands." 

"I  haven't  any  intention  of  touching  it  again," 

14 


TISH  

said  Tish,  meekly  enough.  "But  I  wish  I  could  buy 
a  second-hand  racer  cheap." 

"What  for?"  Aggie  demanded. 

Tish  looked  at  her  with  scorn.  "To  hold  flowers  on 
the  dining-table,"  she  snapped. 

It  being  necessary,  of  course,  to  leave  a  chaperon 
with  Bettina,  because  of  the  Jasper  person's  habit  of 
coming  over  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  we  left  Aggie 
with  instructions  to  watch  them  both. 

Tish  and  I  drove  to  the  drug  store  together,  and 
from  there  to  a  garage  for  gasoline.  I  have  never 
learned  to  say  "gas"  for  gasoline.  It  seems  to  me  as 
absurd  as  if  I  were  to  say  "but"  for  butter.  Consider 
ing  that  Aggie  was  quite  sulky  at  being  left,  it  is 
absurd  for  her  to  assume  an  air  of  virtue  over  what 
followed  that  day.  Aggie  was  only  like  a  lot  of  people 
—  good  because  she  was  not  tempted;  for  it  was  at 
the  garage  that  we  met  Mr.  Ellis. 

We  had  stopped  the  engine  and  Tish  was  quarrel 
ing  with  the  man  about  the  price  of  gasoline  when  I 
saw  him  —  a  nice-looking  young  man  in  a  black-and- 
white  checked  suit  and  a  Panama  hat.  He  came  over 
and  stood  looking  at  Tish's  machine. 

"Nice  lines  to  that  car,"  he  said.  "Built  for  speed, 
is  n't  she?  What  do  you  get  out  of  her?" 

Tish  heard  him  and  turned. 

"Get  out  of  her?"  she  said.   "Bills  mostly." 

"Well,  that's  the  way  with  most  of  them,"  he  re 
marked,  looking  steadily  at  Tish.  "A  machine's  a 
rich  man's  toy.  The  only  way  to  own  one  is  to  have  it 

15 


TISH 


endowed  like  a  university.  But  I  meant  speed.  What 
can  you  make?" 

"Never  had  a  chance  to  find  out,"  Tish  said  grimly. 
"Between  nervous  women  in  the  machine  and  con 
stables  outside  I  have  the  twelve-miles-an-hour  habit. 
I'm  going  to  exchange  the  speedometer  for  a  vacuum 
bottle." 

He  smiled.  "I  don't  think  you're  fair  to  yourself. 
Mostly  —  if  you'll  forgive  me  —  I  can  tell  a  woman's 
driving  as  far  off  as  I  can  see  the  machine;  but  you 
are  a  very  fine  driver.  The  way  you  brought  that  car 
in  here  impressed  me  considerably." 

"She  need  not  pretend  she  crawls  along  the  road," 
I  said  with  some  sarcasm.  "The  bills  she  complains 
of  are  mostly  fines  for  speeding." 

"No!"  said  the  young  man,  delighted.  "Good! 
I'm  glad  to  hear  it.  So  are  mine!" 

After  that  we  got  along  famously.  He  had  his  car 
there  —  a  low  gray  thing  that  looked  like  an  armored 
cruiser. 

"I'd  like  you  ladies  to  try  her,"  he  said.  "She  can 
move,  but  she  is  as  gentle  as  a  lamb.  A  lady  friend  of 
mine  once  threaded  a  needle  as  an  experiment  while 
going  sixty-five  miles  an  hour." 

"In  this  car?" 

"In  this  car." 

Looking  back,  I  do  not  recall  just  how  the  thing 
started.  I  believe  Tish  expressed  a  desire  to  see  the 
car  go,  and  Mr.  Ellis  said  he  could  n't  let  her  out  on 
the  roads,  but  that  the  race-track  at  the  fair-grounds 

16 


TISH 

was  open  and  if  we  cared  to  drive  down  there  in 
Tish's  car  he  would  show  us  her  paces,  as  he  called  it. 
From  that  to  going  to  the  race-track,  and  from  that 
to  Tish's  getting  in  beside  him  on  the  mechanician's 
seat  and  going  round  once  or  twice,  was  natural.  I  re 
fused;  I  did  n't  like  the  look  of  the  thing. 

Tish  came  back  with  a  cinder  in  her  eye  and  full 
of  enthusiasm.  "It  was  magnificent,  Lizzie,"  she  said. 
"The  only  word  for  it  is  sublime.  You  see  nothing. 
There  is  just  the  rush  of  the  wind  and  the  roar  of  the 
engine  and  a  wonderful  feeling  of  flying.  Here!  See 
if  you  can  find  this  cinder." 

"Won't  you  try  it,  Miss  —  er  —  Lizzie?" 

"No,  thanks,"  I  replied.  "I  can  get  all  the  roar 
and  rush  of  wind  I  want  in  front  of  an  electric  fan, 
and  no  danger." 

He  stood  by,  looking  out  over  the  oval  track  while 
I  took  three  cinders  from  Tish's  eye. 

"Great  track!"  he  said.  "It's  a  horse-track,  of 
course,  but  it 's  in  bully  shape  —  the  county  fair  is 
held  there  and  these  fellows  make  a  big  feature  of 
their  horse-races.  I  came  up  here  to  persuade  them 
to  hold  an  automobile  meet,  but  they  've  got  cold  feet 
on  the  proposition." 

"What  was  the  proposition?"  asked  Tish. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "it  was  something  like  this.  I've 
been  turning  the  trick  all  over  the  country  and  it 
works  like  a  charm.  The  town 's  ahead  in  money  and 
business,  for  an  automobile  race  always  brings  a  big 
crowd;  the  track  owners  make  the  gate  money  and 

17 


TISH  

the  racing-cars  get  the  prizes.  Everybody's  ahead. 
It's  a  clean  sport  too." 

"I  don't  approve  of  racing  for  money,"  Tish  said 
decidedly. 

But  Mr.  Ellis  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "It's  really 
hardly  racing  for  money,"  he  explained.  "The  prizes 
cover  the  expenses  of  the  racing-cars,  which  are  heavy 
naturally.  The  cars  alone  cost  a  young  fortune." 

"I  see,"  said  Tish.  "I  had  n't  thought  of  it  in  that 
light.  Well,  why  did  n't  Morris  Valley  jump  at  the 
chance?" 

He  hesitated  a  moment  before  he  answered.  "It 
was  my  fault  really,"  he  said.  "They  were  willing 
enough  to  have  the  races,  but  it  was  a  matter  of 
money.  I  made  them  a  proposition  to  duplicate  what 
ever  prize  money  they  offered,  and  in  return  I  was  to 
have  half  the  gate  receipts  and  the  betting  privileges." 

Tish  quite  stiffened.  "Clean  sport!"  she  said  sar 
castically.  "With  betting  privileges!" 

"You  don't  quite  understand,  dear  lady,"  he  ex 
plained.  "Even  in  the  cleanest  sport  we  cannot  pre 
vent  a  man's  having  an  opinion  and  backing  it  with 
his  own  money.  What  I  intended  to  do  was  to  regu 
late  it.  Regulate  it." 

Tish  was  quite  mollified.  "Well,  of  course,"  she 
said,  "I  suppose  since  it  must  be,  it  is  better  —  er  — 
regulated.  But  why  have  n't  you  succeeded?" 

"An  unfortunate  thing  happened  just  as  I  had 
the  deal  about  to  close,"  he  replied,  and  drew  a  long 
breath.  "The  town  had  raised  twenty-five  hundred. 

18 


TISH  

I  was  to  duplicate  the  amount.  But  just  at  that 
time  a  —  a  young  brother  of  mine  in  the  West  got 
into  difficulties,  and  I  —  but  why  go  into  family  mat 
ters?  It  would  have  been  easy  enough  for  me  to  pay 
my  part  of  the  purse  out  of  my  share  of  the  gate 
money;  but  the  committee  demands  cash  on  the 
table.  I  have  n't  got  it." 

Tish  stood  up  in  her  car  and  looked  out  over  the 
track. 

"Twenty-five  hundred  dollars  is  a  lot  of  money, 
young  man." 

"Not  so  much  when  you  realize  that  the  gate 
money  will  probably  amount  to  twelve  thousand." 

Tish  turned  and  surveyed  the  grandstand. 

"That  thing  does  n't  seat  twelve  hundred." 

"Two  thousand  people  in  the  grandstand  —  that's 
four  thousand  dollars.  Four  thousand  standing  inside 
the  ropes  at  a  dollar  each,  four  thousand  more.  And 
say  eight  hundred  machines  parked  in  the  oval  there 
at  five  dollars  a  car,  four  thousand  more.  That's 
twelve  thousand  for  the  gate  money  alone.  Then 
there  are  the  concessions  to  sell  peanuts,  toy  balloons, 
lemonade  and  palm-leaf  fans,  the  lunch-stands,  merry- 
go-round  and  moving-picture  permits.  It 's  a  bonanza ! 
Fourteen  thousand  anyhow." 

"Half  of  fourteen  thousand  is  seven,"  said  Tish 
dreamily.  "Seven  thousand  less  twenty-five  hundred 
is  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  profit." 

"Forty-five  hundred,  dear  lady,"  corrected  Mr. 
Ellis,  watching  her.  "Forty-five  hundred  dollars 

19 


TISH 

profit  to  be  made  in  two  weeks,  and  nothing  to  do  to 
get  it  but  sit  still  and  watch  it  coming!" 

I  can  read  Tish  like  a  book  and  I  saw  what  was  in 
her  mind.  "Letitia  Carberry!"  I  said  sternly.  "You 
take  my  warning  and  keep  clear  of  this  foolishness. 
If  money  comes  as  easy  as  that  it  ain't  honest." 

"Why  not?"  demanded  Mr.  Ellis.  "We  give  them 
their  money's  worth,  don't  we?  They'd  pay  two  dol 
lars  for  a  theater  seat  without  half  the  thrills  — 
no  chances  of  seeing  a  car  turn  turtle  or  break  its 
steering-knuckle  and  dash  into  the  side-lines.  Two 
dollars'  worth?  It's  twenty!" 

But  Tish  had  had  a  moment  to  consider,  and  the 
turning-turtle  business  settled  it.  She  shook  her  head. 
"I'm  not  interested,  Mr.  Ellis,"  she  said  coldly.  "I 
could  n't  sleep  at  night  if  I  thought  I  'd  been  the  cause 
of  anything  turning  turtle  or  dashing  into  the  side 
lines." 

"Dear  lady!"  he  said,  shocked;  "I  had  no  idea  of 
asking  you  to  help  me  out  of  my  difficulties.  Any 
how,  while  matters  are  at  a  standstill  probably  some 
shrewd  money-maker  here  will  come  forward  before 
long  and  make  a  nice  profit  on  a  small  investment." 

As  we  drove  away  from  the  fair  grounds  Tish  was 
very  silent;  but  just  as  we  reached  the  Bailey  place, 
with  Bettina  and  young  Jasper  McCutcheon  batting 
a  ball  about  on  the  tennis  court,  Tish  turned  to  me. 

"You  needn't  look  like  that,  Lizzie,"  she  said. 
"I'm  not  even  thinking  of  backing  an  automobile 
race  —  although  I  don't  see  why  I  should  n't,  so  far 

20 


TISH 

as  that  goes.  But  it's  curious,  is  n't  it,  th?c  I've  got 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  from  Cousin  Angeline's 
estate  not  even  earning  four  per  cent?" 

I  got  out  grimly  and  jerked  at  my  bonnet-strings. 

"You  put  it  in  a  mortgage,  Tish,"  I  advised  her 
with  severity  in  every  tone.  "It  may  not  be  so  fast  as 
an  automobile  race  or  so  likely  to  turn  turtle  or  break 
its  steering-knuckle,  but  it's  safe." 

"Huh!"  said  Tish,  reaching  for  the  gear  lever. 
"And  about  as  exciting  as  a  cold  pork  chop." 

"And  furthermore,"  I  interjected,  "if  you  go  into 
this  thing  now  that  your  eyes  are  open,  I'll  send  for 
Charlie  Sands!" 

"You  and  Charlie  Sands,"  said  Tish  viciously, 
jamming  at  her  gears,  "ought  to  go  and  live  in  an 
old  ladies'  home  away  from  this  cruel  world." 

Aggie  was  sitting  under  a  sunshade  in  the  broiling 
sun  at  the  tennis  court.  She  said  she  had  not  left 
Bettina  and  Jasper  for  a  moment,  and  that  they  had 
evidently  quarreled,  although  she  did  not  know  when, 
having  listened  to  every  word  they  said.  For  the  last 
half-hour,  she  said,  they  had  not  spoken  at  all. 

"Young  people  in  love  are  very  foolish,"  she  said, 
rising  stiffly.  "They  should  be  happy  in  the  present. 
Who  knows  what  the  future  may  hold?" 

I  knew  she  was  thinking  of  Mr.  Wiggins  and  the 
icy  roof,  so  I  patted  her  shoulder  and  sent  her  up  to 
put  cold  cloths  on  her  head  for  fear  of  sunsteoke. 
Then  I  sat  down  in  the  broiling  sun  and  chaperoned 
Bettina  until  luncheon. 


in 

JASPER  took  dinner  with  us  that  night.  He  came 
across  the  lawn,  freshly  shaved  and  in  clean  white 
flannels,  just  as  dinner  was  announced,  and  said  he 
had  seen  a  chocolate  cake  cooling  on  the  kitchen  porch 
and  that  it  was  a  sort  of  unwritten  social  law  that 
when  the  Baileys  happened  to  have  a  chocolate  cake 
at  dinner  they  had  him  also. 

There  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  object  to  in  this. 
Evidently  he  was  right,  for  we  found  his  place  laid  at 
the  table.  The  meal  was  quite  cheerful,  although 
Jasper  ate  the  way  some  people  play  the  piano,  by 
touch,  with  his  eyes  on  Bettina.  And  he  gave  no  evi 
dence  at  dessert  of  a  fondness  for  chocolate  cake  suffi 
cient  to  justify  a  standing  invitation. 

After  dinner  we  went  out  on  the  veranda,  and  under 
cover  of  showing  me  a  sunset  Jasper  took  me  round 
the  corner  of  the  house.  Once  there,  he  entirely  for 
got  the  sunset. 

"  Miss  Lizzie,"  he  began  at  once, "  what  have  I  done 
to  you  to  have  you  treat  me  like  this?" 

"I?"  I  asked,  amazed. 

"All  three  of  you.  Did  —  did  Bettina's  mother 
warn  you  against  me?" 

"The  girl  has  to  be  chaperoned." 

"But  not  jailed,  Miss  Lizzie,  not  jailed!  Do  you 

22 


TISH  

know  that  I  have  n't  had  a  word  with  Bettina  alone 
since  you  came?  " 

"Why  should  you  .want  to  say  anything  we  cannot 
hear?" 

"Miss  Lizzie,"  he  said  desperately,  "do  you  want 
to  hear  me  propose  to  her?  For  I've  reached  the 
point  where  if  I  don't  propose  to  Bettina  soon,  I'll  — 
I'll  propose  to  somebody.  You'd  better  be  warned 
in  time.  It  might  be  you  or  Miss  Aggie." 

I  weakened  at  that.  The  Lord  never  saw  fit  to  send 
me  a  man  I  could  care  enough  about  to  marry,  or  one 
who  cared  enough  about  me,  but  I  could  n't  look  at 
the  boy's  face  and  not  be  sorry  for  him. 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do?"  I  asked. 

"Come  for  a  walk  with  us,"  he  begged.  "Then 
sprain  your  ankle  or  get  tired,  I  don't  care  which.  Tell 
us  to  go  on  and  come  back  for  you  later.  Do  you  see? 
You  can  sit  down  by  the  road  somewhere." 

"I  won't  lie,"  I  said  firmly.  "If  I  really  get  tired 
I'll  say  so.  If  I  don't—5' 

"You  will."  He  was  gleeful.  "We'll  walk  until 
you  do!  You  see  it's  like  this,  Miss  Lizzie.  Bettina 
was  all  for  me,  in  spite  of  our  differing  on  religion  and 
politics  and — " 

"I  know  all  about  your  differences,"  I  put  in 
hastily. 

"Until  a  new  chap  came  to  town  —  a  fellow  named 
Ellis.  Runs  a  sporty  car  and  has  every  girl  in  the 
town  lashed  to  the  mast.  He's  a  novelty  and  I'm  not. 
So  far  I  have  kept  him  away  from  Bettina,  but  at  any 

23 


TISH 

time  they  may  meet,  and  it  will  be  one-two-three 
with  me." 

I  am  not  defending  my  conduct;  I  am  only  explain 
ing.  Eliza  Bailey  herself  would  have  done  what  I  did 
under  the  circumstances.  I  went  for  a  walk  with 
Bettina  and  Jasper  shortly  after  my  talk  with  Jasper, 
leaving  Tish  with  the  evening  paper  and  Aggie  in 
haling  a  cubeb  cigarette,  her  hay  fever  having  threat 
ened  a  return.  And  what  is  more,  I  tired  within 
three  blocks  of  the  house,  where  I  saw  a  grassy  bank 
beside  the  road. 

Bettina  wished  to  stay  with  me,  but  I  said,  in 
obedience  to  Jasper's  eyes,  that  I  liked  to  sit  alone 
and  listen  to  the  crickets,  and  for  them  to  go  on.  The 
last  I  saw  of  them  Jasper  had  drawn  Bettina's  arm 
through  his  and  was  walking  beside  her  with  his  head 
bent,  talking. 

I  sat  for  perhaps  fifteen  minutes  and  was  growing 
uneasy  about  dew  and  my  rheumatism  when  I  heard 
footsteps  and,  looking  up,  I  saw  Aggie  coming  toward 
me.  She  was  not  surprised  to  see  me  and  addressed 
me  coldly. 

"  I  thought  as  much ! "  she  said.  "  I  expected  better 
of  you,  Lizzie.  That  boy  asked  me  and  I  refused.  I 
dare  say  he  asked  Tish  also.  For  you,  who  pride  your 
self  on  your  strength  of  mind  — " 

"I  was  tired,"  I  said. 

"I  was  to  sprain  my  ankle,"  she  observed  sarcasti 
cally.  "I  just  thought  as  I  was  sitting  there  alone — " 

"Where's  Tish?" 

24 


TISH 


"A  young  man  named  Ellis  came  and  took  her  out 
for  a  ride,"  said  Aggie.  "He  could  n't  take  us  both, 
as  the  car  holds  only  two." 

I  got  up  and  stared  at  Aggie  in  the  twilight.  "You 
come  straight  home  with  me,  Aggie  Pilkington,"  I 
said  sternly. 

"But  what  about  Bettina  and  Jasper?" 

"Let  'em  alone,"  I  said;  "they're  safe  enough. 
What  we  need  to  keep  an  eye  on  is  Letitia  Carberry 
and  her  Cousin  Angeline's  legacy." 

But  I  was  too  late.  Tish  and  Mr.  Ellis  whirled  up 
to  the  door  at  half-past  eight  and  Tish  did  not  even 
notice  that  Bettina  was  absent.  She  took  off  her  veil 
and  said  something  about  Mr.  Ellis's  having  heard  a 
grinding  in  the  differential  of  her  car  that  afternoon 
and  that  he  suspected  a  chip  of  steel  in  the  gears. 
They  went  out  together  to  the  garage,  leaving  Aggie 
and  me  staring  at  each  other.  Mr.  Ellis  was  carrying 
a  box  of  tools. 

Jasper  and  Bettina  returned  shortly  after,  and  even 
in  the  dusk  I  knew  things  had  gone  badly  for  him.  He 
sat  on  the  steps,  looking  out  across  the  dark  lawn,  and 
spoke  in  monosyllables.  Bettina,  however,  was  very 
gay. 

It  was  evident  that  Bettina  had  decided  not  to  take 
her  Presbyterianism  into  the  Episcopal  fold.  And 
although  I  am  a  Presbyterian  myself  I  felt  sorry. 

Tish  and  Mr.  Ellis  came  round  to  the  porch  about 
ten  o'clock  and  he  was  presented  to  Bettina.  From 
that  moment  there  was  no  question  in  my  mind  as  to 

25 


TISH  

how  affairs  were  going,  or  in  Jasper's  either.  He  re 
fused  to  move  and  sat  doggedly  on  the  steps,  but  he 
took  little  part  in  the  conversation. 

Mr.  Ellis  was  a  good  talker,  especially  about  him 
self. 

"You  '11  be  glad  to  know,"  he  said  to  me,  "  that  I  've 
got  this  race  matter  fixed  up  finally.  In  two  weeks 
from  now  we'll  have  a  little  excitement  here." 

I  looked  toward  Tish,  but  she  said  nothing. 

"Excitement  is  where  I  live,"  said  Mr.  Ellis.  "If  I 
don't  find  any  waiting  I  make  it." 

"If  you  are  looking  for  excitement,  we'll  have  to 
find  you  some,"  Jasper  said  pointedly. 

Mr.  Ellis  only  laughed.  "Don't  put  yourself  out, 
dear  boy,"  he  said.  "I  have  enough  for  present  neces 
sities.  If  you  think  an  automobile  race  is  an  easy 
thing  to  manage,  try  it.  Every  man  who  drives  a 
racing-car  has  a  coloratura  soprano  beaten  to  death 
for  temperament.  Then  every  racing-car  has  quirky 
spells;  there's  the  local  committee  to  propitiate;  the 
track  to  look  after;  and  if  that  is  n't  enough,  there's 
the  promotion  itself,  the  advertising.  That's  my 
stunt  —  the  advertising." 

"It's  a  wonderful  business,  isn't  it?"  asked  Bet- 
tina.  "To  take  a  mile  or  so  of  dirt  track  and  turn  it 
into  a  sort  of  stage,  with  drama  every  minute  and 
sometimes  tragedy!" 

"Wait  a  moment,"  said  Mr.  Ellis;  "I  want  to  put 
that  down.  I'll  use  it  somewhere  in  the  advertising." 
He  wrote  by  the  light  of  a  match,  while  we  all  sat 

26 


TISH 


rather  stunned  by  both  his  personality  and  his  alert 
ness.  "Everything's  grist  that  comes  to  my  mill.  I 
suppose  you  all  remember  when  I  completed  the  speed 
way  at  Indianapolis  and  had  the  Governor  of  Indiana 
lay  a  gold  brick  at  the  entrance?  Great  stunt  that! 
But  the  best  part  of  that  story  never  reached  the 
public." 

Bettina  was  leaning  forward,  all  ears  and  thrills. 
"What  was  that?"  she  asked. 

"I  had  the  gold  brick  stolen  that  night  —  did  it 
myself  and  carried  the  brick  away  in  my  pocket  — 
only  gold-plated,  you  know.  Cost  eight  or  nine  dol 
lars,  all  told,  and  brought  a  million  dollars  in  adver 
tising.  But  the  papers  were  sore  about  some  passes 
and  wouldn't  use  the  story. -  Too  bad  we  can't  use  the 
brick  here.  Still  have  it  kicking  about  somewhere." 

It  was  then,  I  think,  that  Jasper  yawned  loudly, 
apologized,  said  good-night  and  lounged  away  across 
the  lawn.  Bettina  hardly  knew  he  was  going.  She 
was  bending  forward,  her  chin  in  her  palms,  listening 
to  Mr.  Ellis  tell  about  a  driver  in  a  motor  race  break 
ing  his  wrist  cranking  a  car,  and  how  he  —  Ellis  — 
had  jumped  into  the  car  and  driven  it  to  victory. 
Even  Aggie  was  enthralled.  It  seemed  as  if,  in  the 
last  hour,  the  great  world  of  stress  and  keen  wits  and 
endeavor  and  mad  speed  had  sat  down  on  our  door 
step. 

As  Tish  said  when  we  were  going  up  to  bed,  why 
should  n't  Mr.  Ellis  brag?  He  had  something  to  brag 
about. 


IV 

ALTHOUGH  I  felt  quite  sure  that  Tish  had  put  up  the 
prize  money  for  Mr.  Ellis,  I  could  not  be  certain. 
And  Tish's  attitude  at  that  time  did  not  invite 
inquiry.  She  took  long  rides  daily  with  the  Ellis  man 
in  his  gray  car,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  their 
objective  point  was  always  the  same  —  the  race 
track. 

Mr.  Ellis  was  the  busiest  man  in  Morris  Valley.  In 
the  daytime  he  was  superintending  putting  the  track 
in  condition,  writing  what  he  called  "promotion 
stuff,"  securing  entries  and  forming  the  center  of  ex 
cited  groups  at  the  drug  store  and  one  or  other  of  the 
two  public  garages.  In  the  evenings  he  was  generally 
to  be  found  at  Bettina's  feet. 

Jasper  did  not  come  over  any  more.  He  sauntered 
past,  evening  after  evening,  very  much  white-flan- 
neled  and  carrying  a  tennis  racket.  And  once  or  twice 
he  took  out  his  old  racing-car,  and  later  shot  by  the 
house  with  a  flutter  of  veils  and  a  motor  coat  beside 
him. 

Aggie  was  exceedingly  sorry  for  him,  and  even 
went  the  length  of  having  the  cook  bake  a  chocolate 
cake  and  put  it  on  the  window  sill  to  cool.  It  had, 
however,  no  perceptible  effect,  except  to  draw  from 
Mr.  Ellis,  who  had  been  round  at  the  garage  looking 

28 


TISH  

at  Jasper's  old  racer,  a  remark  that  he  was  exceed 
ingly  fond  of  cake,  and  if  he  were  urged  — 

That  was,  I  believe,  a  week  before  the  race.  The 
big  city  papers  had  taken  it  up,  according  to  Mr.  Ellis, 
and  entries  were  pouring  in. 

"That's  the  trouble  on  a  small  track,"  he  said  — 
"we  can't  crowd  'em.  A  dozen. cars  will  be  about  the 
limit.  Even  with  using  the  cattle  pens  for  repair  pits 
we  can't  look  after  more  than  a  dozen.  Did  I  tell  you 
Heckert  had  entered  his  Bonor?" 

"No!"  we  exclaimed.  As  far  as  Aggie  and  I  were 
concerned,  the  Bonor  might  have  been  a  new  sort  of 
dog. 

"Yes,  and  Johnson  his  Sampler.  It's  going  to  be 
some  race  —  eh,  what!" 

Jasper  sauntered  over  that  evening,  possibly  a  late 
result  of  the  cake,  after  all.  He  greeted  us  affably,  as 
if  his  defection  of  the  past  week  had  been  merely  inci 
dental,  and  sat  down  on  the  steps. 

"I've  been  thinking,  Ellis,"  he  said,  "that  I'd  like 
to  enter  my  car." 

"What!"  said  Ellis.  "Not  that  — " 

"My  racer.  I'm  not  much  for  speed,  but  there's  a 
sort  of  feeling  in  the  town  that  the  locality  ought  to  be 
represented.  As  I  'm  the  only  owner  of  a  speed  car — " 

"Speed  car!"  said  Ellis,  and  chuckled.  "My  dear 
boy,  we've  got  Heckert  with  his  ninety-horse-power 
Bonor!" 

"Never  heard  of  him."  Jasper  lighted  a  cigarette. 
"Anyhow,  what's  that  to  me?  I  don't  like  to  race. 


TISH 


I've  got  less  speed  mania  than  any  owner  of  a  race 
car  you  ever  met.  But  the  honor  of  the  town  seems 
to  demand  a  sacrifice,  and  I'm  it." 

"You  can  try  out  for  it  anyhow,"  said  Ellis.  "I 
don't  think  you'll  make  it;  but,  if  you  qualify,  all 
right.  But  don't  let  any  other  town  people,  from  a 
sense  of  mistaken  local  pride,  enter  a  street  roller  or 
a  traction  engine." 

Jasper  colored,  but  kept  his  temper. 

Aggie,  however,  spoke  up  indignantly.  "Mr. 
McCutcheon's  car  was  a  very  fine  racer  when  it  was 
built." 

"De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum"  remarked  Mr.  Ellis, 
and  getting  up  said  good-night. 

Jasper  sat  on  the  steps  and  watched  him  disappear. 
Then  he  turned  to  Tish. 

"Miss  Letitia,"  he  said,  "do  you  think  you  are  wise 
to  drive  that  racer  of  his  the  way  you  have  been 
doing?" 

Aggie  gave  a  little  gasp  and  promptly  sneezed,  as 
she  does  when  she  is  excited. 

"I?  "said  Tish. 

"You!"  he  smiled.  "Not  that  I  don't  admire  your 
courage.  I  do.  But  the  other  day,  now,  when  you  lost 
a  tire  and  went  into  the  ditch  — " 

"Tish!  "from  Aggie. 

" —  you  were  fortunate.  But  when  a  racer  turns 
over  the  results  are  not  pleasant." 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,"  said  Tish  coldly,  "it  was  a 
wheat-field,  not  a  ditch." 

30 


TISH 


Jasper  got  up  and  threw  away  his  cigarette.  "  Well, 
our  departing  friend  is  not  the  only  one  who  can  quote 
Latin,"  he  said.  "Verbum  sap.,  Miss  Tish.  Good 
night,  everybody.  Good-night,  Bettina." 

Bettina's  good-night  was  very  cool.  As  I  went  up  to 
bed  that  night,  I  thought  Jasper's  chances  poor  in 
deed.  As  for  Tish,  I  endeavored  to  speak  a  few  words 
of  remonstrance  to  her,  but  she  opened  her  Bible  and 
began  to  read  the  lesson  for  the  day  and  I  was  obliged 
to  beat  a  retreat. 

It  was  that  night  that  Aggie  and  I,  having  decided 
the  situation  was  beyond  us,  wrote  a  letter  to  Charlie 
Sands  asking  him  to  come  up.  Just  as  I  was  sealing  it 
Bettina  knocked  and  came  in.  She  closed  the  door 
behind  her  and  stood  looking  at  us  both. 

"Where  is  Miss  Tish?"  she  asked. 

"Reading  her  Bible,"  I  said  tartly.  "When  Tish 
is  up  to  some  mischief,  she  generally  reads  an  extra 
chapter  or  two  as  atonement." 

"Is  she  —  is  she  always  like  this?" 

"The  trouble  is,"  explained  Aggie  gently,  "Miss 
Letitia  is  an  enthusiast.  Whatever  she  does,  she  does 
with  all  her  heart." 

"I  feel  so  responsible,"  said  Bettina.  " I  try  to  look 
after  her,  but  what  can  I  do?" 

"There  is  only  one  thing  to  do,"  I  assured  her  — 
"let  her  alone.  If  she  wants  to  .fly,  let  her  fly;  if  she 
wants  to  race,  let  her  race — and  trust  in  Providence." 

"I'm  afraid  Providence  has  its  hands  full!"  said 
Bettina,  and  went  to  bed. 

31 


TISH  

For  the  remainder  of  that  week  nothing  was  talked 
of  in  Morris  Valley  but  the  approaching  race.  Some 
of  Eliza  Bailey's  friends  gave  fancy-work  parties  for 
us,  which  Aggie  and  I  attended.  Tish  refused,  being 
now  openly  at  the  race-track  most  of  the  day.  Morris 
Valley  was  much  excited.  Should  it  wear  motor 
clothes,  or  should  it  follow  the  example  of  the  English 
Derby  and  the  French  races  and  wear  its  afternoon 
reception  dress  with  white  kid  gloves?  Or  —  it  being 
warm  —  would  n't  lingerie  clothes  and  sunshades  be 
most  suitable? 

Some  of  the  gossip  I  retailed  to  Jasper,  oil-streaked 
and  greasy,  in  the  Baileys'  garage  where  he  was  work 
ing  over  his  car. 

"Tell  'em  to  wear  mourning,"  he  said  pessimisti 
cally.  "There's  always  a  fatality  or  two.  If  there 
was  n't  a  fair  chance  of  it  nothing  would  make  'em  sit 
for  hours  watching  dusty  streaks  going  by." 

The  race  was  scheduled  for  Wednesday.  On  Sun 
day  night  the  cars  began  to  come  in.  On  Monday 
Tish  took  us  all,  including  Bettina,  to  the  track. 
There  were  half  a  dozen  tents  in  the  oval,  one  of  them 
marked  with  a  huge  red  cross. 

"Hospital  tent,"  said  Tish  calmly. 

We  even,  on  permission  from  Mr.  Ellis,  went  round 
the  track.  At  one  spot  Tish  stopped  the  car  and  got  out. 

"Nail,"  she  said  briefly.  "It's  been  a  horse-racing 
track  for  years,  and  we've  gathered  a  bushel  of  horse 
shoe  nails." 

Aggie  and  I  said  nothing,  but  we  looked  at  each 

32 


TISH  

other.  Tish  had  said  "we."  Evidently  Cousin 
Angeline's  legacy  was  not  going  into  a  mortgage. 

The  fair-grounds  were  almost  ready.  Peanut  and 
lunch  stands  had  sprung  up  everywhere.  The  oval, 
save  by  the  tents  and  the  repair  pits,  was  marked 
off  into  parking-spaces  numbered  on  tall  banners. 
Groups  of  dirty  men  in  overalls,  carrying  machine 
wrenches,  small  boys  with  buckets  of  water,  onlookers 
round  the  tents  and  track-rollers  made  the  place  look 
busy  and  interesting.  Some  of  the  excitement,  I  con 
fess,  got  into  my  blood.  Tish,  on  the  contrary,  was 
calm  and  businesslike.  We  were  sorry  we  had  sent 
for  Charlie  Sands.  She  no  longer  went  out  in  Mr. 
Ellis's  car,  and  that  evening  she  went  back  to  the 
kitchen  and  made  a  boiled  salad  dressing. 

We  were  all  deceived. 

Charlie  Sands  came  the  next  morning.  He  was  on 
the  veranda  reading  a  paper  when  we  got  down  to 
breakfast.  Tish's  face  was  a  study. 

"Who  sent  for  you?"  she  demanded. 

"Sent  for  me!  Why,  who  would  send  for  me?  I'm 
here  to  write  up  the  race.  I  thought,  if  you  have  n't 
been  out  to  the  track,  we'd  go  out  this  morning." 

"We've  been  out,"  said  Tish  shortly,  and  we  went 
in  to  breakfast.  Once  or  twice  during  the  meal  I 
caught  her  eye  on  me  and  on  Aggie  and  she  was  short 
with  us  both.  While  she  was  upstairs  I  had  a  word 
with  Charlie  Sands. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "what  is  it  this  time?  Is  she  rac 
ing?" 


TISH 

"Worse  than  that,"  I  replied.  "I  think  she's  back 
ing  the  thing!" 

"No!" 

"With  her  cousin  Angeline's  legacy."  With  that  I 
told  him  about  our  meeting  Mr.  Ellis  and  the  whole 
story.  He  listened  without  a  word. 

"So  that's  the  situation,"  I  finished.  "He  has  her 
hypnotized,  Charlie.  What's  more,  I  should  n't  be 
surprised  to  see  her  enter  the  race  under  an  assumed 


name." 


Charlie  Sands  looked  at  the  racing  list  in  the  Morris 
Valley  Sun. 

"Good  cars  all  of  them,"  he  said.  "She's  not  here 
among  the  drivers,  unless  she's  —  Who  are  these 
drivers  anyhow?  I  never  heard  of  any  of  them." 

"It's  a  small  race,"  1  suggested.  "I  dare  say  the 
big  men — " 

"Perhaps."  He  put  away  his  paper  and  got  up. 
"I'll  just  wander  round  the  town  for  an  hour  or  two, 
Aunt  Lizzie,"  he  said.  "I  believe  there's  a  nigger  in 
this  woodpile  and  I'm  a  right  nifty  little  nigger- 
chaser." 

When  he  came  back  about  noon,  however,  he 
looked  puzzled.  I  drew  him  aside. 

"It  seems  on  the  level,"  he  said.  "It's  so  darned 
open  it  makes  me  suspicious.  But  she's  back  of  it  all 
right.  I  got  her  bank  on  the  long-distance  'phone." 

We  spent  that  afternoon  at  the  track,  with  the  dif 
ferent  cars  doing  what  I  think  they  called  "trying  out 
heats."  It  appeared  that  a  car,  to  qualify,  must  do  a 

34 


TISH 

certain  distance  in  a  certain  time.  It  grew  monoto 
nous  after  a  while.  All  but  one  entry  qualified  and 
Jasper  just  made  it.  The  best  showing  was  made  by 
the  Bonor  car,  according  to  Charlie  Sands. 

Jasper  came  to  our  machine  when  it  was  over, 
smiling  without  any  particular  good  cheer. 

"I've  made  it  and  that's  all," he  said.  "I've  got 
about  as  much  chance  as  a  watermelon  at  a  colored 
picnic.  I'm  being  slaughtered  to  make  a  Roman 
holiday." 

"If  you  feel  that  way  why  do  you  do  it?"  de 
manded  Bettina  coldly.  "If  you  go  in  expecting  to 
be  slaughtered  — " 

He  was  leaning  on  the  side  of  the  car  and  looked  up 
at  her  with  eyes  that  made  my  heart  ache,  they  were 
so  wretched. 

"What  does  it  matter?"  he  said.  "I'll  probably 
trail  in  at  the  last,  sound  in  wind  and  limb.  If  I  don't, 
what  does  it  matter?" 

He  turned  and  left  us  at  that,  and  I  looked  at 
Bettina.  She  had  her  lips  shut  tight  and  was  blinking 
hard.  I  wished  that  Jasper  had  looked  back. 


CHAELIE  SANDS  announced  at  dinner  that  he  in 
tended  to  spend  the  night  at  the  track. 

Tish put  down  her  fork  and  looked  at  him.  "  Why?" 
she  demanded. 

"I'm  going  to  help  the  boy  next  door  watch  his 
car,"  he  said  calmly.  "Nothing  against  your  friend 
Mr.  Ellis,  Aunt  Tish,  but  some  enemy  of  true  sport 
might  take  a  notion  in  the  night  to  slip  a  dope  pill 
into  the  mouth  of  friend  Jasper's  car  and  have  her  go 
to  sleep  on  the  track  to-morrow." 

We  spent  a  quiet  evening.  Mr.  Ellis  was  busy,  of 
course,  and  so  was  Jasper.  The  boy  came  to  the  house 
to  get  Charlie  Sands  and,  I  suppose,  for  a  word  with 
Bettina,  for  when  he  saw  us  all  on  the  porch  he  looked, 
as  you  may  say,  thwarted. 

When  Charlie  Sands  had  gone  up  for  his  pajamas 
and  dressing-gown,  Jasper  stood  looking  up  at  us. 

"Oh,  Association  of  Chaperons!"  he  said,  "is  it 
permitted  that  my  lady  walk  to  the  gate  with  me  — 
alone?" 

"I  am  not  your  lady,"  flashed  Bettina. 

"You've  nothing  to  say  about  that,"  he  said  reck 
lessly.  "I've  selected  you;  you  can't  help  it.  I  have 
n't  claimed  that  you  have  selected  me." 

"Anyhow,  I  don't  wish  to  go  to  the  gate,"  said 
Bettina. 

36 


TISH  

He  went  rather  white  at  that,  and  Charlie  Sands 
coming  down  at  that  moment  with  a  pair  of  red-and- 
white  pajamas  under  his  arm  and  a  toothbrush  stick 
ing  out  of  his  breast  pocket,  romance,  as  Jasper  said 
later  in  referring  to  it,  "was  buried  in  Sands." 

Jasper  went  up  to  Bettina  and  held  out  his  hand. 
"You'll  wish  me  luck,  won't  you?" 

"Of  course."  She  took  his  hand.  "But  I  think 
you're  a  bit  of  a  coward,  Jasper!" 

He  eyed  her.  "Coward!"  he  said.  "I'm  the  brav 
est  man  you  know.  I  'm  doing  a  thing  I  'm  scared  to 
death  to  do!" 

The  race  was  to  begin  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon.  There  were  small  races  to  be  run  first,  but  the 
real  event  was  due  at  three. 

From  early  in  the  morning  a  procession  of  cars 
from  out  of  town  poured  in  past  Eliza  Bailey's  front 
porch,  and  by  noon  her  cretonne  cushions  were  thick 
with  dust.  And  not  only  automobiles  came,  but  hay- 
wagons,  side-bar  buggies,  delivery  carts  —  anything 
and  everything  that  could  transport  the  crowd. 

At  noon  Mr.  Ellis  telephoned  Tish  that  the  grand 
stand  was  sold  out  and  that  almost  all  the  parking- 
places  that  had  been  reserved  were  taken.  Charlie 
Sands  came  home  to  luncheon  with  a  curious  smile  on 
his  face. 

"How  are  you  betting,  Aunt  Tish?"  he  asked. 

"Betting!" 

"Yes.   Has  Ellis  let  you  in  on  the  betting?" 

37 


TISH 


"I  don't  know  what  you  are  talking  about,"  Tish 
said  sourly.  "Mr.  Ellis  controls  the  betting  so  that  it 
may  be  done  in  an  orderly  manner.  I  am  sure  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it." 

"I'd  like  to  bet  a  little,  Charlie,"  Aggie  put  in  with 
an  eye  on  Tish.  "I'd  put  all  I  win  on  the  collection 
plate  on  Sunday." 

"Very  well."  Charlie  Sands  took  out  his  notebook. 
"On  what  car  and  how  much?" 

"Ten  dollars  on  the  Fein.  It  made  the  best  time  at 
the  trial  heats." 

"I  would  n't  if  I  were  you,"  said  Charlie  Sands. 
"Suppose  we  put  it  on  our  young  friend  next  door." 

Bettina  rather  sniffed.  "On  Jasper!"  she  ex 
claimed. 

"On  Jasper,"  said  Charlie  Sands  gravely. 

Tish,  who  had  hardly  heard  us,  looked  up  from  her 
plate. 

"Betting  is  betting,"  she  snapped.  "Putting  it  on 
the  collection  plate  does  n't  help  any."  But  with  that 
she  caught  Charlie  Sands's  eye  and  he  winked  at  her. 
Tish  colored.  "  Gambling  is  one  thing,  clean  sport  is 
another,"  she  said  hotly. 

I  believe,  however,  that  whatever  Charlie  Sands 
may  have  suspected,  he  really  knew  nothing  until  the 
race  had  started.  By  that  time  it  was  too  late  to  pre 
vent  it,  and  the  only  way  he  could  think  of  to  avoid 
getting  Tish  involved  in  a  scandal  was  to  let  it  go  on. 

We  went  to  the  track  in  Tish's  car  and  parked  in 
the  oval.  Not  near  the  grandstand,  however.  Tish 

38 


TISH  

had  picked  out  for  herself  a  curve  at  one  end  of  the 
track  which  Mr.  Ellis  had  said  was  the  worst  bit  on 
the  course. 

"He  says,"  said  Tish,  as  we  put  the  top  down  and 
got  out  the  vacuum  bottle  —  oh,  yes,  Mr.  Ellis  had 
sent  Tish  one  as  a  present  —  "that  if  there  are  any 
sinashups  they'll  occur  here." 

Aggie  is  not  a  bloodthirsty  woman  ordinarily,  but 
her  face  quite  lit  up. 

"Not  really!  "she  said. 

"They'll  probably  turn  turtle,"  said  Tish.  "There 
is  never  a  race  without  a  fatality  or  two.  No  racer 
can  get  any  life  insurance.  Mr.  Ellis  says  four  men 
were  killed  at  the  last  race  he  promoted." 

"Then  I  think  Mr.  Ellis  is  a  murderer,"  Bettina 
cried.  We  all  looked  at  her.  She  was  limp  and  white 
and  was  leaning  back  among  the  cushions  with  her 
eyes  shut.  "Why  did  n't  you  tell  Jasper  about  this 
curve?"  she  demanded  of  Tish. 

But  at  that  moment  a  pistol  shot  rang  out  and  the 
races  were  on. 

The  Fein  won  two  of  the  three  small  races.  Jasper 
was  entered  only  for  the  big  race.  In  the  interval  be 
fore  the  race  was  on,  Jasper  went  round  the  track 
slowly,  looking  for  Bettina.  When  he  saw  us  he 
waved,  but  did  not  stop.  He  was  number  thirteen. 
|  I  shall  not  describe  the  race.  After  the  first  round 
or  two,  what  with  dust  in  my  eyes  and  my  neck  ach 
ing  from  turning  my  head  so  rapidly,  I  just  sat  back 
and  let  them  spin  in  front  of  me. 

39 


TISH  

It  was  after  a  dozen  laps  or  so,  with  number  thir 
teen  doing  as  well  as  any  of  them,  that  Tish  was 
arrested. 

Charlie  Sands  came  up  beside  the  car  with  a  gentle 
man  named  Atkins,  who  turned  out  to  be  a  county 
detective.  Charlie  Sands  was  looking  stern  and  se 
vere,  but  the  detective  was  rather  apologetic. 

"This  is  Miss  Carberry,"  said  Charlie  Sands. 
"Aunt  Tish,  this  gentleman  wishes  to  speak  to  you." 

"Come  around  after  the  race,"  Tish  observed 
calmly. 

"Miss  Carberry,"  said  the  detective  gently,  "I  be 
lieve  you  are  back  of  this  race,  are  n't  you?" 

"What  if  I  am?"  demanded  Tish. 

Charlie  Sands  put  a  hand  on  the  detective's  arm. 
"It's  like  this,  Aunt  Tish,"  he  said;  "you  are  accused 
of  practicing  a  short-change  game,  that's  all.  This 
race  is  sewed  up.  You  employ  those  racing-cars  with 
drivers  at  an  average  of  fifty  dollars  a  week.  They  are 
hardly  worth  it,  Aunt  Tish.  I  could  have  got  you  a 
better  string  for  twenty-five." 

Tish  opened  her  mouth  and  shut  it  again  without 
speaking. 

"You  also  control  the  betting  privileges.  As  you 
own  all  the  racers  you  have  probably  known  for  a 
couple  of  weeks  who  will  win  the  race.  Having  made 
the  Fein  favorite,  you  can  bet  on  a  Brand  or  a  Bonor, 
or  whatever  one  you  chance  to  like,  and  win  out.  Only 
I  take  it  rather  hard  of  you,  Aunt  Tish,  not  to  have 
let  the  family  in.  I'm  hard  up  as  the  dickens." 

40 


TISH 

"  Charlie  Sands ! "  said  Tish  impressively.  "  If  you 
are  joking  — " 

"Joking!  Did  you  ever  know  a  county  detective 
to  arrest  a  prominent  woman  at  a  race-track  as  a  little 
jest  between  friends?  There's  no  joke,  Aunt  Tish. 
You  've  financed  a  phony  race.  The  permit  is  taken  in 
your  name  —  L.  Carberry.  Whatever  car  wins,  you 
and  Ellis  take  the  prize  money,  half  the  gate  receipts, 
and  what  you  have  made  out  of  the  betting  — " 

Tish  rose  in  the  machine  and  held  out  both  her 
hands  to  Mr.  Atkins. 

"Officer,  perform  your  duty,"  she  said  solemnly. 
"Ignorance  is  no  defense  and  I  know  it.  Where  are 
the  handcuffs?" 

"We'll  not  bother  about  them,  Miss  Carberry," 
he  said.  "If  you  like  I'll  get  into  the  car  and  you  can 
tell  me  all  about  it  while  we  watch  the  race.  Which 
car  is  to  win?" 

"I  may  have  been  a  fool,  Mr.  County  Detective," 
she  said  coldly ;  "but  I 'm  not  a  knave.  I  have  not  bet 
a  dollar  on  the  race." 

We  were  very  silent  for  a  time.  The  detective 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  race  very  much  and  ate  peanuts 
out  of  his  pocket.  He  even  bought  a  red-and-black 
pennant,  with  "Morris  Valley  Races"  on  it,  and 
fastened  it  to  the  car.  Charlie  Sands,  however,  sat 
with  his  arms  folded,  stiff  and  severe. 

Once  Tish  bent  forward  and  touched  his  arm. 

"You — you  don't  think  it  will  get  in  the  papers, 
do  you?"  she  quavered. 

41 


TISH 

Charlie  Sands  looked  at  her  with  gloom.  "I  shall 
have  to  send  it  myself,  Aunt  Tish,"  he  said;  "it  is  my 
duty  to  my  paper.  Even  my  family  pride,  hurt  to  the 
quick  and  quivering  as  it  is,  must  not  interfere  with 
my  duty." 

It  was  Bettina  who  suggested  a  way  out  —  Bet- 
tina,  who  had  sat  back  as  pale  as  Tish  and  heard  that 
her  Mr.  Ellis  was,  as  Charlie  Sands  said  later,  as 
crooked  as  a  pretzel. 

"But  Jasper  was  not  —  not  subsidized,"  she  said. 
"If  he  wins,  it's  all  right,  is  n't  it?" 

The  county  detective  turned  to  her. 

"Jasper?"  he  said. 

"A  young  man  who  lives  here."  Bettina  colored. 

"He  is  —  not  to  be  suspected?" 

"Certainly  not,"  said  Bettina  haughtily;  "he  is 
above  suspicion.  Besides,  he  —  he  and  Mr.  Ellis  are 
not  friends." 

Well,  the  county  detective  was  no  fool.  He  saw  the 
situation  that  minute,  and  smiled  when  he  offered 
Bettina  a  peanut.  "Of  course,"  he  said  cheerfully,  "if 
the  race  is  won  by  a  Morris  Valley  man,  and  not  by 
one  of  the  Ellis  cars,  I  don't  suppose  the  district  at 
torney  would  care  to  do  anything  about  it.  In  fact," 
he  said,  smiling  at  Bettina,  "I  don't  know  that  I'd 
put  it  up  to  the  district  attorney  at  all.  A  warning  to 
Ellis  would  get  him  out  of  the  State."  . 

It  was  just  at  that  moment  that  car  number  thir 
teen,  coming  round  the  curve,  skidded  into  the  field, 
threw  out  both  Jasper  McCutcheon  and  his  mechani- 

42 


TISH 

cian,  and  after  standing  on  two  wheels  for  an  appreci 
able  moment  of  time,  righted  herself,  panting,  with 
her  nose  against  a  post. 

Jasper  sat  up  almost  immediately  and  caught  at 
his  shoulder.  The  mechanician  was  stunned.  He  got 
up,  took  a  step  or  two  and  fell  down,  weak  with  fright. 

I  do  not  recall  very  distinctly  what  happened  next. 
We  got  out  of  the  machine,  I  remember,  and  Bettina 
was  cutting  off  Jasper's  sweater  with  Charlie  Sands's 
penknife,  and  crying  as  she  did  it.  And  Charlie  Sands 
was  trying  to  prevent  Jasper  from  getting  back  into 
his  car,  while  Jasper  was  protesting  that  he  could  win 
in  two  or  more  laps  and  that  he  could  drive  with  one 
hand  —  he'd  only  broken  his  arm. 

The  crowd  had  gathered  round  us,  thick.  Suddenly 
they  drew  back,  and  in  a  sort  of  haze  I  saw  Tish  in 
Jasper's  car,  with  Aggie,  as  white  as  death,  holding 
to  Tish's  sleeve  and  begging  her  not  to  get  in.  The 
next  moment  Tish  let  in  the  clutch  of  the  racer  and 
Aggie  took  a  sort  of  flying  leap  and  landed  beside  her 
in  the  mechanician's  seat. 

Charlie  Sands  saw  it  when  I  did,  but  we  were  both 
too  late.  Tish  was  crossing  the  ditch  into  the  track 
again,  and  the  moment  she  struck  level  ground  she 
put  up  the  gasoline. 

It  was  just  then  that  Aggie  fell  out,  landing,  as  I 
have  said  before,  in  a  pile  of  sand.  Tish  said  afterward 
that  she  never  missed  her.  She  had  just  discovered 
that  this  was  not  Jasper's  old  car,  which  she  knew 
something  about,  but  a  new  racer  with  the  old  hood 

43 


TISH  

and  seat  put  on  in  order  to  fool  Mr.  Ellis.  She  did  n't 
know  a  thing  about  it. 

Well,  you  know  the  rest  —  how  Tish,  trying  to  find 
how  the  gears  worked,  side-swiped  the  Bonor  car  and 
threw  it  off  the  field  and  out  of  the  race;  how,  with 
the  grandstand  going  crazy,  she  skidded  off  the  track 
into  the  field,  turned  completely  round  twice,  and 
found  herself  on  the  track  again  facing  the  way 
she  wanted  to  go;  how,  at  the  last  lap,  she  threw 
a  tire  and,  without  cutting  down  her  speed,  bumped 
home  the  winner,  with  the  end  of  her  tongue  nearly 
bitten  off  and  her  spine  fairly  driven  up  into  her 
skull. 

All  this  is  well  known  now,  as  is  also  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Ellis  disappeared  from  the  judges'  stand  after  a 
word  or  two  with  Mr.  Atkins,  and  was  never  seen  at 
Morris  Valley  again. 

Tish  came  out  of  the  race  ahead  by  half  the  gate 
money  —  six  thousand  dollars  —  by  a  thousand  dol 
lars  from  concessions,  and  a  lame  back  that  she  kept 
all  winter.  Even  deducting  the  twenty-five  hundred 
she  had  put  up,  she  was  forty-five  hundred  dollars 
ahead,  not  counting  the  prize  money. \  Charlie  Sands 
brought  the  money  from  the  track  that  night,  after 
having  paid  off  Mr.  Ellis's  racing-string  and  given 
Mr.  Atkins  a  small  present.  He  took  over  the  prize 
money  to  Jasper  and  came  back  with  it,  Jasper  main 
taining  that  it  belonged  to  Tish,  and  that  he  had  only 
raced  for  the  honor  of  Morris  Valley.  For  some  time 
the  money  went  begging,  but  it  settled  itself  natur- 

44 


TISH 

ally  enough,  Tish  giving  it  to  Jasper  in  the  event  of 
—  but  that  came  later. 

On  the  following  evening  —  Bettina,  in  the  pursuit 
of  learning  to  cook,  having  baked  a  chocolate  cake  — 
we  saw  Jasper,  with  his  arm  in  a  sling,  crossing  the 
side  lawn. 

Jasper  stopped  at  the  foot  of  the  steps.  "I  see  a 
chocolate  cake  cooling  on  the  kitchen  porch,"  he 
said.  "Did  you  order  it,  Miss  Lizzie?" 

I  shook  my  head. 

"Miss  Tish?  Miss  Aggie?" 

"I  ordered  it,"  said  Bettina  defiantly  —  "or  rather 
I  baked  it." 

"And  you  did  that,  knowing  what  it  entailed?" 
He  was  coming  up  the  steps  slowly  and  with  care. 

"What  does  it  entail?"  demanded  Bettina. 

"Me." 

"Oh,  that!"  said  Bettina.   "I  knew  that." 

Jasper  threw  his  head  back  and  laughed.  Then:  — 

"Will  the  Associated  Chaperons,"  he  said,  "turn 
their  backs?" 

"Not  at  all,"  I  began  stiffly.   "If  I  — " 

"She  baked  it  herself!"  said  Jasper  exultantly. 
"One  —  two.  When  I  say  three  I  shall  kiss  Bet 
tina." 

And  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  he  carried  out 
his  threat. 

Eliza  Bailey  forwarded  me  this  letter  from  London, 
where  Bettina  had  sent  it  to  her:  — 

45 


TISH  

Dearest  Mother:  I  hope  you  are  coming  home  soon.  I 
really  think  you  should.  Aunt  Lizzie  is  here  and  she  brought 
two  friends^  and,  mother,  I  feel  so  responsible  for  them! 
Aunt  Lizzie  is  sane  enough,  if  somewhat  cranky;  but  Miss 
Tish  is  almost  more  than  I  can  manage  —  I  never  know 
what  she  is  going  to  do  next  —  and  I  am  worn  out  with 
chaperoning  her.  And  Miss  Aggie,  although  she  is  very 
sweet,  is  always  smoking  cubeb  cigarettes  for  hay  fever, 
and  it  looks  terrible!  The  neighbors  do  not  know  they  are 
cubeb,  and,  anyhow,  that's  a  habit,  mother.  And  yester 
day  Miss  Tish  was  arrested,  and  ran  a  motor  race  and  won 
it,  and  to-day  she  is  knitting  a  stocking  and  reciting  the 
Twenty-third  Psalm.  Please,  mother,  I  think  you  should 
come  home. 

Lovingly,  BETTINA. 

P.S.  I  think  I  shall  marry  Jasper  after  all.  He  says  he 
likes  the  Presbyterian  service. 

I  looked  up  from  reading  Eliza's  letter.  Tish  was 
knitting  quietly  and  planning  to  give  the  money  back 
to  the  town  in  the  shape  of  a  library,  and  Aggie  was 
holding  a  cubeb  cigarette  to  her  nose.  Down  on  the 
tennis  court  Jasper  and  Bettina  were  idly  batting  a 
ball  round. 

"I'm  glad  the  Ellis  man  did  not  get  her,"  said 
Aggie.  And  then,  after  a  sneeze,  "How  Jasper  re 
minds  me  of  Mr.  Wiggins." 

The  library  did  not  get  the  money  after  all.  Tish 
sent  it,  as  a  wedding  present,  to  Bettina. 


LIKE  A  WOLF  ON  THE  FOLD 


LIKE  A  WOLF  ON  THE  FOLD 


AGGIE  has  always  been  in  the  habit  of  observing  the 
anniversary  of  Mr.  Wiggins's  death.  Aggie  has  the 
anniversary  habit,  anyhow,  and  her  life  is  a  succession 
of  small  feast-days,  on  which  she  wears  mental  crape 
or  wedding  garments  —  depending  on  the  occasion. 

Tish  and  I  always  remember  these  occasions  ap 
propriately,  sending  flowers  on  the  anniversaries  of 
the  passing  away  of  Aggie's  parents;  grandparents;  a 
niece  who  died  in  birth;  her  cousin,  Sarah  Webb,  who 
married  a  missionary  and  was  swallowed  whole  by  a 
large  snake,  —  except  her  shoes,  which  the  reptile  re 
fused  and  of  which  Aggie  possesses  the  right,  given 
her  by  the  stricken  husband;  and,  of  course,  Mr. 
Wiggins. 

For  Mr.  Wiggins  Tish  and  I  generally  send  the 
same  things  each  year  —  Tish  a  wreath  of  autumn 
foliage  and  I  a  sheaf  of  wheat  tied  with  a  lavender 
ribbon.  The  program  seldom  varies.  We  drive  to  the 
cemetery  in  the  afternoon  and  Aggie  places  the  sheaf 
and  the  wreath  on  Mr.  Wiggins's  last  resting-place, 
first  removing  the  lavender  ribbon,  of  which  she  makes 
cap  bows  through  the  year  and  an  occasional  pin 
cushion  or  fancy-work  bag;  then  home  to  chicken  and 

49 


TISH  

waffles,  which  had  been  Mr.  Wiggins's  favorite  meal. 
In  the  evening  Charlie  Sands  generally  comes  in  and 
we  play  a  rubber  or  two  of  bridge. 

On  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  Mr.  Wiggins's  fall 
ing  off  a  roof  and  breaking  his  neck,  Tish  was  late  in 
arriving,  and  I  found  Aggie  sitting  alone,  dressed  in 
black,  with  a  tissue-paper  bundle  in  her  lap.  I  put 
my  sheaf  on  the  table  and  untied  my  bonnet-strings. 

"Where's  Tish?  "I  asked 

"Not  here  yet."  Something  in  Aggie's  tone  made 
me  look  at  her.  She  was  eyeing  the  bundle  in  her  lap. 

"I  got  a  paler  shade  of  ribbon  this  time,"  I  said, 
seeing  she  made  no  comment  on  the  sheaf.  "It's  a 
better  color  for  me  if  you  're  going  to  make  my  Christ 
mas  present  out  of  it  this  year  again.  Where's  Tish's 
wreath?" 

"Here."  Aggie  pointed  dispiritedly  to  the  bundle 
in  her  lap  and  went  on  rocking. 

"That!  That's  no  wreath." 

In  reply  Aggie  lifted  the  tissue  paper  and  shook  out, 
with  hands  that  trembled  with  indignation,  a  lace- 
and-linen  centerpiece.  She  held  it  up  before  me  and 
we  eyed  each  other  over  it.  Both  of  us  understood. 

"Tish  is  changed,  Lizzie,"  Aggie  said  hollowly. 
"Ask  her  for  bread  these  days  and  she  gives  you  a 
Cluny-lace  fandangle.  On  mother's  anniversary  she 
sent  me  a  set  of  doilies;  and  when  Charlie  Sands  was 
in  the  hospital  with  appendicitis  she  took  him  a  pair 
of  pillow  shams.  It's  that  Syrian!" 

Both  of  us  knew.  We  had  seen  Tish's  apartment 

50 


TISH  

change  from  a  sedate  and  spinsterly  retreat  to  a  riot 
of  lace  covers  on  the  mantel,  on  the  backs  of  chairs, 
on  the  stands,  on  the  pillows  —  everywhere.  We  had 
watched  her  Marseilles  bedspreads  give  way  to  hem 
stitched  covers,  with  bolsters  to  match.  We  had  seen 
Tish  go  through  a  cold  winter  clad  in  a  succession  of 
sleazy  silk  kimonos  instead  of  her  flannel  dressing- 
gown;  terrible  kimonos  —  green  and  yellow  and  red 
and  pink,  that  looked  like  fruit  salads  and  were  just 
as  heating. 

"It's  that  dratted  Syrian!"  cried  Aggie  —  and  at 
that  Tish  came  in.  She  stood  inside  the  door  and 
eyed  us. 

"What  about  him?"  she  demanded.  "If  I  choose 
to  take  a  poor  starving  Christian  youth  and  assist 
him  by  buying  from  him  what  I  need  —  what  I  need ! 
— that 's  my  affair,  is  n't  it?  Tufik  was  starving  and  I 
took  him  in." 

"He  took  you  in,  all  right!"  Aggie  sniffed.  "A 
great,  mustached,  dirty,  palavering  foreigner,  who's 
probably  got  a  harem  at  home  and  no  respect  for 
women!" 

Tish  glanced  at  my  sheaf  and  at  the  centerpiece. 
She  was  dressed  as  she  always  dressed  on  Mr.  Wig- 
gins's  day  —  in  black;  but  she  had  a  new  lace  collar 
with  a  jabot,  and  we  knew  where  she  had  got  it.  She 
saw  our  eyes  on  it  and  she  had  the  grace  to  flush. 

"Once  for  all,"  she  snapped,  "I  intend  to  look  after 
this  unfortunate  Syrian!  If  my  friends  object,  I  shall 
be  deeply  sorry;  but,  so  far  as  I  care,  they  may  object 

51 


TISH 


until  they  are  purple  in  the  face  and  their  tongues 
hang  out.  I've  been  sending  my  money  to  foreign 
missions  long  enough;  I'm  doing  my  missionary  work 
at  home  now." 

"He'll  marry  you!"  This  from  Aggie. 

Tish  ignored  her.  "His  father  is  an  honored  citizen 
of  Beirut,  of  the  nobility.  The  family  is  impoverished, 
being  Christian,  and  grossly  imposed  on  by  the  Turks. 
Tufik  speaks  French  and  English  as  well  as  Moham 
medan.  They  offered  him  a  high  government  posi 
tion  if  he  would  desert  the  Christian  faith;  but  he  re 
fused  firmly.  He  came  to  this  country  for  religious 
freedom;  at  any  moment  they  may  come  after  him 
and  take  him  back." 

A  glint  of  hope  came  to  me.  I  made  a  mental  note 
to  write  to  the  mayor,  or  whatever  they  call  him  over 
there,  and  tell  him  where  he  could  locate  his  wander 
ing  boy. 

"He  loves  the  God  of  America,"  said  Tish. 

"Money!"  Aggie  jeered. 

"And  he  is  so  pathetic,  so  grateful!  I  told  Hannah 
at  noon  to-day  —  that's  what  delayed  me  —  to  give 
him  his  lunch.  He  was  starving;  I  thought  we 'd  never 
fill  him.  And  when  it  was  over,  he  stooped  in  the 
sweetest  way,  while  she  was  gathering  up  the  empty 
dishes,  and  kissed  her  hand.  It  was  touching!" 

"Very!"  I  said  dryly.   "What  did  Hannah  do?" 

"She's  a  fool!  She  broke  a  cup  on  his  head." 

Mr.  Wiggins's  anniversary  was  not  a  success.  Part 
of  this  was  due  to  Tish,  who  talked  of  Tufik  steadily 

52 


TISH 


—  of  his  youth;  of  the  wonderful  bargains  she  secured 
from  him;  of  his  belief  that  this  was  the  land  of  op 
portunity  —  Aggie  sniffed;  of  his  familiarity  with  the 
Bible  and  Biblical  places;  of  the  search  the  Turks 
were  making  for  him.  The  atmosphere  was  not 
cleared  by  Aggie's  taking  the  Cluny-lace  centerpiece 
to  the  cemetery  and  placing  it,  with  my  sheaf,  on 
Mr.  Wiggins's  grave. 

As  we  got  into  Tish's  machine  to  go  back,  Aggie 
was  undeniably  peevish.  She  caught  cold,  too,  and 
was  sneezing  —  as  she  always  does  when  she  is  irri 
tated  or  excited. 

"Where  to?"  asked  Tish  from  the  driving-seat, 
looking  straight  ahead  and  pulling  on  her  gloves. 
From  where  we  sat  we  could  still  see  the  dot  of  white 
on  the  grass  that  was  the  centerpiece. 

"Back  to  the  house,"  Aggie  snapped,  "to  have 
some  chicken  and  waffles  and  Tufik  for  dinner!" 

Tish  drove  home  in  cold  silence.  As  well  as  we 
could  tell  from  her  back,  she  was  not  so  much  indig 
nant  as  she  was  determined.  Thus  we  do  not  believe 
that  she  willfully  drove  over  every  rut  and  thank-you- 
ma'am  on  the  road,  scattering  us  generously  over  the 
tonneau,  and  finally,  when  Aggie,  who  was  the  lighter, 
was  tossed  against  the  top  and  sprained  her  neck, 
eliciting  a  protest  from  us.  She  replied  in  an  ab 
stracted  tone,  which  showed  where  her  mind  was. 

"It  would  be  rougher  on  a  camel,"  she  said  ab 
sently.  "Tufik  was  telling  me  the  other  day —  " 

Aggie  had  got  her  head  straight  by  that  time  and 

53 


—  TISH  

was  holding  it  with  both  hands  to  avoid  jarring.  She 
looked  goaded  and  desperate;  and,  as  she  said  after 
ward,  the  thing  slipped  out  before  she  knew  she  was 
more  than  thinking  it. 

"Oh,  damn  Tufik!"  she  said. 

Fortunately  at  that  moment  we  blew  out  a  tire  and 
apparently  Tish  did  not  hear  her.  While  I  was  jack 
ing  up  the  car  and  Tish  was  getting  the  key  of  the 
toolbox  out  of  her  stocking,  Aggie  sat  sullenly  in  her 
place  and  watched  us. 

"I  suppose,"  she  gibed,  "a  camel  never  blows  out 
a  tire!" 

"It  might,"  Tish  said  grimly,  "if  it  heard  an  oath 
from  the  lips  of  a  middle-aged  Sunday-school 
teacher  1 " 

We  ate  Mr.  Wiggins's  anniversary  dinner  without 
any  great  hilarity.  Aggie's  neck  was  very  stiff  and  she 
had  turned  in  the  collar  of  her  dress  and  wrapped 
flannels  wrung  out  of  lamp  oil  round  it.  When  she 
wished  to  address  either  Tish  or  myself  she  held  her 
head  rigid  and  turned  her  whole  body  in  her  chair; 
and  when  she  felt  a  sneeze  coming  on  she  clutched 
wildly  at  her  head  with  both  hands  as  if  she  expected 
it  to  fly  off. 

Tufik  was  not  mentioned,  though  twice  Tish  got  as 
far  as  Tu —  and  then  thought  better  of  it;  but  her 
mind  was  on  him  and  we  knew  it.  She  worked  the 
conversation  round  to  Bible  history  and  triumphantly 
demanded  whether  we  knew  that  Sodom  and  Go 
morrah  are  towns  to-day,  and  that  a  street-car  line 

54 


TISH  

is  contemplated  to  them  from  some  place  or  other  — 
it  developed  later  that  she  meant  Tyre  and  Sidon. 
Once  she  suggested  that  Aggie's  sideboard  needed 
new  linens,  but  after  a  look  at  Aggie's  rigid  head  she 
let  it  go  at  that. 

No  one  was  sorry  when,  with  dinner  almost  over, 
and  Aggie  lifting  her  ice-cream  spoon  straight  up 
in  front  of  her  and  opening  her  mouth  with  a  sort 
of  lockjaw  movement,  the  bell  rang.  We  thought  it 
was  Charlie  Sands.  It  was  not.  Aggie  faced  the 
doorway  and  I  saw  her  eyes  widen.  Tish  and  I 
turned. 

A  boy  stood  in  the  doorway  —  a  shrinking,  timid, 
brown-eyed  young  Oriental,  very  dark  of  skin,  very 
white  of  teeth,  very  black  of  hair  —  a  slim  youth  of 
eighteen,  possibly  twenty,  hi  a  shabby  blue  suit, 
broken  shoes,  and  a  celluloid  collar.  Twisting  between 
nervous  brown  fingers,  not  as  clean  as  they  might 
have  been,  was  a  tissue-paper  package. 

"My  friends!"  he  said,  and  smiled. 

Tish  is  an  extraordinary  woman.  She  did  not  say  a 
word.  She  sat  still  and  let  the  smile  get  in  its  work. 
Its  first  effect  was  on  Aggie's  neck,  which  she  forgot. 
Tufik's  timid  eyes  rested  for  a  moment  on  Tish  and 
brightened.  Then  like  a  benediction  they  turned  to 
me,  and  came  to  a  stop  on  Aggie.  He  took  a  step 
farther  into  the  room. 

"My  friend's  friend  are  my  friend,"  he  said. 
"America  is  my  friend  —  this  so  great  God's 
country!" 

55 


TISH  

Aggie  put  down  her  ice-cream  spoon  and  closed  her 
mouth,  which  had  been  open. 

"  Come  in,  Tufik,"  said  Tish;  "and  I  am  sure  Miss 
Pilkington  would  like  you  to  sit  down." 

Tufit  still  stood  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  Aggie,  twist 
ing  his  package. 

"My  friend  has  said,"  he  observed  —  he  was  quite 
calm  and  divinely  trustful  —  "My  friend  has  said 
that  this  is  for  Miss  Pilk  a  sad  day.  My  friend  is  my 
mother;  I  have  but  her  and  God.  Unless  —  but  per 
haps  I  have  two  new  friend  also  —  no?" 

"Of  course  we  are  your  friends,"  said  Aggie,  feeling 
for  the  table-bell  with  her  foot.  "We  are  —  are  n't 
we,  Lizzie?" 

Tufik  turned  and  looked  at  me  wistfully.  It  came 
over  me  then  what  an  awful  thing  it  must  be  to  be  so 
far  from  home  and  knowing  nobody,  and  having  to 
wear  trousers  and  celluloid  collars  instead  of  rotes 
and  turbans,  and  eat  potatoes  and  fried  things  instead 
of  olives  and  figs  and  dates,  and  to  be  in  danger  of 
being  taken  back  and  made  into  a  Mohammedan  and 
having  to  keep  a  harem. 

"Certainly,"  I  assented.  "If  you  are  good  we  will 
be  your  friends." 

He  flashed  a  boyish  smile  at  me. 

"I  am  good,"  he  said  calmly  —  "as  the  angels  I  am 
good.  I  have  here  a  letter  from  a  priest.  I  give  it  to 
you.  Read!" 

He  got  a  very  dirty  envelope  from  his  pocket  and 
brought  it  round  the  table  to  me.  "See!"  he  said. 

56 


TISH  

"The  priest  says:  'Of  all  my  children  Tufik  lies  next 
my  heart."1 

He  held  the  letter  out  to  me;  but  it  looked  as  if  it 
had  been  copied  from  an  Egyptian  monument  and 
was  about  as  legible  as  an  outbreak  of  measles. 

"This,"  he  said  gently,  pointing,  "is  the  priest's 
blessing.  I  carry  it  ever.  It  brings  me  friends."  He 
put  the  paper  away  and  drew  a  long  breath;  then  he 
surveyed  us  all  with  shining  eyes.  "It  has  brought 
me  you." 

We  were  rather  overwhelmed.  Aggie's  maid  having 
responded  to  the  bell,  Aggie  ordered  ice  cream  for 
Tufik  and  a  chair  drawn  to  the  table;  but  the  chair 
Tufik  refused  with  a  little,  smiling  bow. 

"It  is  not  right  that  I  sit,"  he  said.  "I  stand  in  the 
presence  of  my  three  mothers.  But  first  —  I  forget 

—  my  gift!  For  the  sadness,  Miss  Pilk!" 

He  held  out  the  tissue-paper  package  and  Aggie 
opened  it.  Tufik's  gift  proved  to  be  a  small  linen  doily, 
with  a  Cluny-lace  border! 

We  were  gone  from  that  moment  —  I  know  it  now, 
looking  back.  Gone!  We  were  lost  the  moment  Tufik 
stood  in  the  doorway,  smiling  and  bowing.  Tish  saw 
us  going;  and  with  the  calmness  of  the  lost  sat  there 
nibbling  cake  and  watching  us  through  her  spectacles 

—  and  raised  not  a  hand. 

Aggie  looked  at  the  doily  and  Tufik  looked  at 
her. 

"That's  —  that's  really  very  nice  of  you,"  said 
Aggie.  "I  thank  you." 

57 


— :  TISH 

Tufik  came  over  and  stood  beside  her. 

"  I  give  with  my  heart,"  he  said  shyly.  "  I  have  had 
nobody  —  in  all  so  large  this  country  —  nobody !  And 
now  —  I  have  you!"  Aggie  saw  —  but  too  late.  He 
bent  over  and  touched  his  lips  to  her  hands.  "The 
Bible  says:  'To  him  that  overcometh  I  will  give  the 
morning  star! '  I  have  overcometh  —  ah,  so  much!  — 
the  sea;  the  cold,  wet  England;  the  Ellis  Island;  the 
hunger;  the  aching  of  one  who  has  no  love,  no  money! 
And  now  —  I  have  the  morning  star!" 

He  looked  at  us  all  three  at  once  —  Charlie  Sands 
said  this  was  impossible,  until  he  met  Tufik.  Aggie 
was  fairly  palpitant  and  Tish  was  smug,  positively 
smug.  As  for  me,  I  roused  with  a  start  to  find  myself 
sugaring  my  ice  cream. 

Charlie  Sands  was  delayed  that  night.  He  came  in 
about  nine  o'clock  and  found  Tufik  telling  us  about 
his  home  and  his  people  and  the  shepherds  on  the 
hills  about  Damascus  and  the  olive  trees  in  sunlight. 
We  half -expected  Tufik  to  adopt  Charlie  Sands  as  a 
father;  but  he  contented  himself  with  a  low  Oriental 
salute,  and  shortly  after  he  bowed  himself  away. 

Charlie  Sands  stood  looking  after  him  and  smiling 
to  himself.  "Pretty  smooth  boy,  that!"  he  said. 

"Smooth  nothing!"  Tish  snapped,  getting  the 
bridge  score.  "He's  a  sad-hearted  and  lonely  boy; 
and  we  are  going  to  do  the  kindest  thing  —  we  are 
going  to  help  him  to  help  himself." 

"Oh,  he'll  help  himself  all  right!"  observed  Charlie 
Sands.  "But,  since  his  people  are  Christians,  I  wish 

58 


TISH  

you  'd  tell  me  how  he  knows  so  much  about  the  inside 
of  a  harem!" 

Seeing  that  comment  annoyed  us,  he  ceased,  and 
we  fell  to  our  bridge  game;  but  more  than  once  his 
eye  fell  on  Aggie's  doily,  and  he  muttered  something 
about  the  Assyrian  coming  down  like  a  wolf  on  the 
fold. 


II 

THE  problem  of  Tufik's  future  was  a  pressing  one. 
Tish  called  a  meeting  of  the  three  of  us  next  morn 
ing,  and  we  met  at  her  house.  We  found  her  reading 
about  Syria  in  the  encyclopaedia,  while  spread  round 
her  on  chairs  and  tables  were  numbers  of  silk  kimonos, 
rolls  of  crocheted  lace,  shirt-waist  patterns,  and  em 
broidered  linens. 

Hannah  let  us  in.  She  looked  surly  and  had  a  band 
age  round  her  head,  a  sure  sign  of  trouble  —  Hannah 
always  referring  a  pain  in  her  temper  to  her  ear  or  her 
head  or  her  teeth.  She  clutched  my  arm  in  the  hall 
and  held  me  back. 

"I'm  going  to  poison  him!"  she  said.  "Miss  Liz 
zie,  that  little  snake  goes  or  I  go!" 

"I'm  ashamed  of  you,  Hannah!"  I  replied  sternly. 
"If  out  of  the  breadth  of  her  charity  Miss  Tish  wishes 
to  assist  a  fellow  man  — " 

Hannah  reeled  back  and  freed  my  arm. 

"My  God!"  she  whispered.  "You  too!" 

I  am  very  fond  of  Hannah,  who  has  lived  with  Tish 
for  many  years;  but  I  had  small  patience  with  her 
that  morning. 

"I  cannot  see  how  it  concerns  you,  anyhow,  Han 
nah,"  I  observed  severely. 

Hannah  put  her  apron  to  her  eyes  and  sniffled  into  it. 

60 


TISH  

"Oh,  you  can't,  can't  you!"  she  wailed.  "Don't  I 
give  him  half  his  meals,  with  him  soft-soapin'  Miss 
Tish  till  she  can't  see  for  suds?  Ain't  I  fallin'  over 
him  mornin',  noon,  and  night,  and  the  postman  tell 
ing  all  over  the  block  he's  my  steady  company  — 
that  snip  that's  not  eighteen  yet?  And  don't  I  do  the 
washin'?  And  will  you  look  round  the  place  and  count 
the  things  I've  got  to  do  up  every  week?  And  don't 
he  talk  to  me  in  that  lingo  of  his,  so  I  don't  know 
whether  he's  askin'  for  a  cup  of  coffee  or  insultin' 
me?" 

I  patted  Hannah  on  the  arm.  After  all,  none  of  the 
exaltation  of  a  good  deed  upheld  Hannah  as  it  sus 
tained  us. 

"We  are  going  to  help  him  help  himself,  Hannah,'* 
I  said  kindly.  "He  has  n't  found  himself.  Be  gentle 
with  him.  Remember  he  comes  from  the  land  of  the 
Bible." 

"Humph!"  said  Hannah,  who  reads  the  news 
papers.  "So  does  the  plague!" 

The  problem  we  had  set  ourselves  we  worked  out 
that  morning.  As  Tish  said,  the  boy  ought  to  have 
light  work,  for  the  Syrians  are  not  a  laboring  people. 

"Their  occupation  is  —  er  —  mainly  pastoral,"  she 
said,  with  the  authority  of  the  encyclopaedia.  "Graz 
ing  their  herds  and  gathering  figs  and  olives.  If  we 
knew  some  one  who  needed  a  shepherd  — " 

Aggie  opposed  the  shepherd  idea,  however.  As  she 
said,  and  with  reason,  the  climate  is  too  rigorous. 
"It's  all  well  enough  in  Syria,"  she  said,  "where  they 

61 


TISH  

have  no  cold  weather;  but  he'd  take  his  death  of 
pneumonia  here." 

We  put  the  shepherd  idea  reluctantly  aside.  My 
own  notion  of  finding  a  camel  for  him  to  look  after 
was  negatived  by  Tish  at  once,  and  properly  enough  I 
realized. 

"The  only  camels  are  in  circuses,"  she  said,  "and 
our  duty  to  the  boy  is  moral  as  well  as  physical.  Cir 
cuses  are  dens  of  immorality.  Of  course  the  Syrians 
are  merchants,  and  we  might  get  him  work  in  a  store. 
But  then  again  —  what  chance  has  he  of  rising?  Once 
a  clerk,  always  a  clerk."  She  looked  round  at  the 
chairs  and  tables,  littered  with  the  contents  of  Tufik's 
pasteboard  suitcase,  which  lay  empty  at  her  feet. 
"And  there  is  nothing  to  canvassing  from  door  to 
door.  Look  at  these  exquisite  things!  —  and  he  can 
not  sell  them.  Nobody  buys.  He  says  he  never  gets 
inside  a  house  door.  If  you  had  seen  his  face  when  I 
bought  a  kimono  from  him!" 

At  eleven  o'clock,  having  found  nothing  in  the 
"Help  Wanted  "  column  to  fit  Tufik's  case,  Tish  called 
up  Charlie  Sands  and  offered  Tufik  as  a  reporter,  pro 
vided  he  was  given  no  nightwork.  But  Charlie  Sands 
said  it  was  impossible  —  that  the  editors  and  owners 
of  the  paper  were  always  putting  on  their  sons  and 
relatives,  and  that  when  there  was  a  vacancy  the  big 
advertisers  got  it.  Tish  insisted — she  suggested  that 
Tufik  could  run  an  Arabian  column,  like  the  Ger 
man  one,  and  bring  in  a  lot  of  new  subscribers.  But 
Charlie  Sands  stood  firm. 

62 


TISH  

At  noon  Tufik  came.  We  heard  a  skirmish  at  the 
door  and  Hannah  talking  between  her  teeth. 

"She's  out,"  she  said. 

"Well,  I  think  she  is  not  out,"  in  Tufik's  soft  tones. 

"You '11  not  get  in." 

"Ah,  but  my  toes  are  in.  See,  my  foot  wishes  to 
enter! "  Then  something  soft,  coaxing,  infinitely  wist 
ful,  in  Arabian  followed  by  a  slap.  The  next  moment 
Hannah,  in  tears,  rushed  back  to  the  kitchen.  There 
was  no  sound  from  the  hallway.  No  smiling  Tufik 
presented  himself  in  the  doorway. 

Tish  rose  in  the  majesty  of  wrath.  "I  could  strangle 
that  woman!"  she  said,  and  we  followed  her  into  the 
hall. 

Tufik  was  standing  inside  the  door  with  his  arms 
folded,  staring  ahead.  He  took  no  notice  of  us. 

"Tufik!"  Aggie  cried,  running  to  him.  "Did  she 
—  did  she  dare  —  Tish,  look  at  his  cheek!" 

"She  is  a  bad  woman!"  Tufik  said  somberly.  "I 
make  my  little  prayer  to  see  Miss  Tish,  my  mother, 
and  she—  I  kill  her!" 

We  had  a  hard  time  apologizing  to  him  for  Hannah. 
Tish  got  a  basin  of  cold  water  so  he  might  bathe  his 
face;  and  Aggie  brought  a  tablespoonful  of  blackberry 
cordial,  which  is  soothing.  When  the  poor  boy  was 
calmer  we  met  in  Tish's  bedroom  and  Tish  was  quite 
firm  on  one  point  — Hannah  must  leave! 

Now,  this  I  must  say  in  my  own  defense  —  I  was 
sorry  for  Tufik;  and  it  is  quite  true  I  bought  him  a 
suit  and  winter  flannels  and  a  pair  of  yellow  shoes  — 

63 


TISH  

he  asked  for  yellow.  He  said  he  was  homesick  for  a 
bit  of  sunshine,  and  our  so  somber  garb  made  him 
heart-sad.  But  I  would  never  have  dismissed  a  cook 
like  Hannah  for  him. 

"I  shall  have  to  let  her  go,"  Tish  said.  "He  is 
Oriental  and  passionate.  He  has  said  he  will  kill  her 

—  and  he'll  do  it.  They  hold  life  very  lightly." 
"Humph!"  I  said.  "Very  well,  Tish,  that  holding 

life  lightly  is  n't  a  Christian  trait.  It's  Mohammedan 

—  every   Mohammedan  wants  to  die  and  go  to  his 
heaven,  which  is  a  sort  of  sublimated  harem.   The 
boy's  probably  a  Christian  by  training,  but  he's  a 
Mohammedan  by  blood." 

Aggie  thought  my  remark  immoral  and  said  so. 
And  just  then  Hannah  solved  her  own  problem  by 
stalking  into  the  room  with  her  things  on  and  a  suit 
case  in  her  hand. 

"I'm  leaving,  Miss  Tish!"  she  said  with  her  eye- 
rims  red.  "God  knows  I  never  expected  to  be  put  out 
of  this  place  by  a  dirty  dago!  You'll  find  your  woolen 
stockings  on  the  stretchers,  and  you've  got  an  ap 
pointment  with  the  dentist  to-morrow  morning  at 
ten.  And  when  that  little  blackguard  has  sucked  you 
dry,  and  you  want  him  killed  to  get  rid  of  him,  you  '11 
find  me  at  my  sister's." 

She  picked  up  her  suitcase  and  Tish  flung  open  the 
door. 

"You're  a  hard-hearted  woman,  Hannah  Mackin- 
tyre!"  Tish  snapped.  "Your  sister  can't  keep  you. 
You'll  have  to  work." 

64 


TISH  

Hannah  turned  in  the  doorway  and  sneered  at  the 
three  of  us. 

"Oh,  no!"  she  said.  "I'm  going  to  hunt  up  three 
soft-headed  old  maids  and  learn  to  kiss  their  hands 
and  tell  'em  I  have  nobody  but  them  and  God!" 

She  slammed  out  at  that,  leaving  us  in  a  state  of 
natural  irritation.  But  our  rage  soon  faded.  Tufik  was 
not  in  the  parlor;  and  Tish,  tiptoeing  back,  reported 
that  he  was  in  the  kitchen  and  was  mixing  up  some 
thing  in  a  bowl. 

"  He 's  a  dear  boy ! "  she  said.  "  He  feels  responsible 
for  Hannah's  leaving  and  he's  getting  luncheon! 
Hannah  is  a  wicked  and  uncharitable  woman!" 

"  Man's  inhumanity  to  man, 
Makes  countless  thousands  mourn! " 

quoted  Aggie  softly.  From  the  kitchen  came  the 
rhythmic  beating  of  a  wooden  spoon  against  the  side 
of  a  bowl;  a  melancholy  chant  —  quite  archaic,  as 
Tish  said  —  kept  time  with  the  spoon,  and  later  a 
smell  of  baking  flour  and  the  clatter  of  dishes  told  us 
that  our  meal  was  progressing. 

"'The  Syrians,'"  read  Tish  out  of  her  book,  "'are 
a  peaceful  and  pastoral  people.  They  have  not 
changed  materially  in  nineteen  centuries,  and  the 
traveler  in  their  country  finds  still  the  life  of  Biblical 
times.'  Something 's  burning !" 

Shortly  after,  Tufik,  beaming  with  happiness  and 
Hannah  clearly  forgotten,  summoned  us  to  the  dining- 
room.  Tufik  was  not  a  cook.  We  realized  that  at  once. 
He  had  made  coffee  in  the  Oriental  way  —  strong 

65 


TISH  

enough  to  float  an  egg,  very  sweet  and  full  of  grounds ; 
and  after  a  bite  of  the  cakes  he  had  made,  Tish  re 
membered  the  dentist  the  next  day  and  refused  solid 
food  on  account  of  a  bad  tooth.  The  cakes  were  made 
of  lard  and  flour,  without  any  baking-powder  or  flav 
oring,  and  the  tops  were  sprinkled  thick  with  gran 
ulated  sugar.  Little  circles  of  grease  melted  out  of 
them  on  to  the  plate,  and  Tufik,  wide-eyed  with  tri 
umph,  sweetly  wistful  over  Tish's  tooth,  humble  and 
joyous  in  one  minute,  stood  by  the  cake  plate  and  fed 
them  to  us! 

I  caught  Aggie's  agonized  eye,  but  there  was  noth 
ing  else  to  do.  Were  we  not  his  friends?  And  had  he 
not  made  this  delicacy  for  us?  On  her  third  cake, 
however,  Aggie  luckily  turned  blue  round  the  mouth 
and  had  to  go  and  lie  down.  This  broke  up  the  meal 
and  probably  saved  my  life,  though  my  stomach  has 
never  been  the  same  since.  Tish  says  the  cakes  are 
probably  all  right  in  the  Orient,  where  it  is  hot  and 
the  grease  does  not  get  a  chance  to  solidify.  She  thinks 
that  Tufik  is  probably  a  good  cook  in  his  own  country. 
But  Aggie  says  that  a  good  many  things  in  the  Bible 
that  she  never  understood  are  made  plain  to  her  if 
that  is  what  they  ate  in  Biblical  times  —  some  of  the 
things  they  saw  in  visions,  and  all  that.  She  dropped 
asleep  on  Tish's  lounge  and  distinctly  saw  Tufik 
murdering  Hannah  by  forcing  one  of  his  cakes  down 
her  throat. 

The  next  month  was  one  of  real  effort.  We  had 
planned  to  go  to  Panama,  and  had  our  passage  en- 

66 


TISH 


gaged;  but  when  we  broke  the  news  toTufik  he  turned 
quite  pale. 

"You  go  —  away?"  he  said  wistfully. 

"Only  for  a  month,"  Tish  hastened  to  apologize. 
"You  see,  we  —  we  are  all  very  tired,  and  the  Pan 
ama  Canal  — " 

"Canal?  I  know  not  a  canal." 

"It  is  for  ships— " 

"You  go  there  in  a  ship?" 

"Yes.  A  canal  is  a—" 

"You  go  far  —  in  a  ship  —  and  I  —  I  stay  here?" 

"Only  for  a  month,"  Aggie  broke  in.  "We  will 
leave  you  enough  money  to  live  on;  and  perhaps  when 
we  come  back  you  will  have  found  something  to  do — " 

"For  a  month,"  he  said  brokenly.  "I  have  no 
friends,  no  Miss  Tish,  no  Miss  Liz,  no  Miss  Pilk.  I 
die!" 

He  got  up  and  walked  to  the  window.  It  was  Aggie 
who  realized  the  awful  truth.  The  poor  lonely  boy 
was  weeping  —  and  Charlie  Sands  may  say  what  he 
likes !  He  was  really  crying  —  when  he  turned,  there 
were  large  tears  on  his  cheeks.  What  made  it  worse 
was  that  he  was  trying  to  smile. 

"I  wish  you  much  happiness  on  the  canal,"  he  said. 
"I  am  wicked;  but  my  sad  heart  —  it  ache  that  my 
friends  leave  me.  I  am  sad!  If  only  my  seester  — " 

That  was  the  first  we  had  known  of  Tufik's  sister, 
back  in  Beirut,  wearing  a  veil  over  her  face  and  mak 
ing  lace  for  the  bazaars.  We  were  to  know  more. 

67 


TISH 


Well,  between  getting  ready  to  go  to  Panama  and 
trying  to  find  something  Tufik  could  do,  we  were  very 
busy  for  the  next  month.  Tufik  grew  reconciled  to 
our  going,  but  he  was  never  cheerful  about  it;  and 
finding  that  it  pained  him  we  never  spoke  about  it  in 
his  presence. 

He  was  with  us  a  great  deal.  In  the  morning  he 
would  go  to  Tish,  who  would  give  him  a  list  of  her 
friends  to  see.  Then  Tish  would  telephone  and  make 
appointments  for  him,  and  he  would  start  off  hope 
fully,  with  his  pasteboard  suitcase.  But  he  never  sold 
anything  —  except  a  shirt-waist  pattern  to  Mrs. 
Ostermaier,  the  minister's  wife.  We  took  day  about 
giving  him  his  carfare,  but  this  was  pauperizing  and 
we  knew  it.  Besides,  he  was  very  sensitive  and  in 
sisted  on  putting  down  everything  we  gave  him  in  a 
book,  to  be  repaid  later  when  he  had  made  a  success. 

The  allowance  idea  was  mine  and  it  worked  well. 
We  figured  that,  allowing  for  his  washing,  —  which 
was  not  much,  as  he  seemed  to  prefer  the  celluloid 
collar,  —  he  could  live  in  a  sort  of  way  on  nine  dollars 
a  week.  We  subscribed  equally  to  this;  and  to  save 
his  pride  we  mailed  it  to  him  weekly  by  check. 

His  failure  to  sell  his  things  hurt  him  to  the  soul. 
More  than  once  we  caught  tears  in  his  eyes.  And  he 
was  not  well  —  he  could  not  walk  any  distance  at  all 
and  he  coughed.  At  last  Tish  got  Charlie  Sands  to 
take  him  to  a  lung  specialist,  a  stupid  person,  who 
said  it  was  a  cigarette  cough.  This  was  absurd,  as 
Tufik  did  not  smoke. 


TISH 

At  last  the  time  came  for  the  Panama  trip.  Tish 
called  me  up  the  day  she  packed  and  asked  me  to 
come  over. 

"I  can't.  I'm  busy,  Tish,"  I  said. 

She  was  quite  disagreeable. 

"This  is  your  burden  as  well  as  mine,"  she  snapped. 
"Come  over  and  talk  to  that  wretched  boy  while  I 
pack  my  trunk.  He  stands  and  watches  everything  I 
put  in,  and  I  have  n't  been  able  to  pack  a  lot  of  things 
I  need." 

I  went  over  that  afternoon  and  found  Tufik  hud 
dled  on  the  top  step  of  the  stairs  outside  Tish's  apart 
ment,  with  his  head  in  his  hands. 

"She  has  put  me  out!"  he  said,  looking  up  at  me 
with  tragic  eyes.  "My  mother  has  put  me  out!  She 
does  not  love  Tufik!  No  one  loves  Tufik!  I  am  no 
good.  I  am  a  dirty  dago!" 

I  was  really  shocked.  I  rang  the  bell  and  Tish  let 
me  in.  She  had  had  no  maid  since  Hannah's  depar 
ture  and  was  taking  her  meals  out.  She  saw  Tufik  and 
stiffened. 

"I  thought  I  sent  you  away!"  she  said,  glaring  at 
him. 

He  looked  at  her  pitifully. 

"Where  must  I  —  go?"  he  asked,  and  coughed. 

Tish  sighed  and  flung  the  door  wide  open. 

"Bring  him  in,"  she  said  with  resignation,  "but 
for  Heaven's  sake  lock  him  in  a  closet  until  I  get  my 
underwear  packed.  And  if  he  weeps  —  slap  him." 

The  poor  boy  was  very  repentant,  and  seeing  that 


TISH 

his  cough  worried  us  he  fought  it  back  bravely.  I 
mixed  the  white  of  an  egg  with  lemon  juice  and  sugar, 
and  gave  it  to  him.  He  was  pathetically  grateful  and 
kissed  my  hand.  At  five  o'clock  we  sent  him  away 
firmly,  having  given  him  thirty-six  dollars.  He  pre 
sented  each  of  us  with  a  roll  of  crocheted  lace  to  take 
with  us  and  turned  in  the  doorway  to  wave  a  wistful 
final  good-bye. 

We  met  at  Tish's  that  night  so  that  we  might  all  go 
together  to  the  train.  Charlie  Sands  had  agreed  to 
see  us  off  and  to  keep  an  eye  on  Tufik  during  our  ab 
sence.  Aggie  was  in  a  palpitating  travel  ecstasy, 
clutching  a  patent  seasick  remedy  and  a  map  of  the 
Canal  Zone;  Tish  was  seeing  that  the  janitor  shut  off 
the  gas  and  water  in  the  apartment;  and  Charlie 
Sands  was  jumping  on  top  of  a  steamer  trunk  to  close 
it.  The  taxicab  was  at  the  door  and  we  had  just  time 
to  make  the  night  train.  The  steamer  sailed  early 
the  next  morning. 

"All  ready!"  cried  Charlie  Sands,  getting  the  lid 
down  finally.  "All  off  for  the  Big  Ditch!" 

We  all  heard  a  noise  in  the  hall  —  a  sort  of  scuffling, 
with  an  occasional  groan.  Tish  rushed  over  and 
threw  open  the  door.  On  the  top  step,  huddled  and 
shivering,  with  streams  of  water  running  off  his  hair 
down  over  his  celluloid  collar,  pouring  out  of  his 
sleeves  and  cascading  down  the  stairs  from  his  trou 
sers  legs,  was  Tufik.  The  policeman  on  the  beat  was 
prodding  at  him  with  his  foot,  trying  to  make  him 
get  up.  When  he  saw  us  the  officer  touched  his  hat. 

70 


TISH 


"Evening,  Miss  Tish,"  he  said,  grinning.  "This 
here  boy  of  yours  has  been  committing  suicide.  Just 
fished  him  out  of  the  lake  in  the  park!" 

"Get  up!"  snapped  Charlie  Sands.  "You  infernal 
young  idiot!  Get  up  and  stop  sniveling!" 

He  stooped  and  took  the  poor  boy  by  the  collar. 
His  brutality  roused  us  all  out  of  our  stupor.  Tish 
and  I  rushed  forward  and  commanded  him  to  stand 
back;  and  Aggie,  with  more  presence  of  mind  than 
we  had  given  her  credit  for,  brought  a  glass  containing 
a  tablespoonful  of  blackberry  cordial  into  which  she 
had  pored  ten  drops  of  seasickness  remedy.  Tufik 
was  white  and  groaning,  but  he  revived  enough  to 
sit  up  and  stare  at  us  with  his  sad  brown  eyes. 

"I  wish  to  die!"  he  said  brokenly.  "Why  you  do 
not  let  me  die?  My  friends  go  on  the  canal!  I  am 
alone!  My  heart  is  empty!" 

Tish  wished  to  roll  him  on  a  barrel,  but  we  had  no 
barrel;  so,  with  Charlie  Sands  standing  by  with  his 
watch  in  his  hand,  refusing  to  assist  and  making  un 
kind  remarks,  we  got  him  to  Tish's  room  and  laid  out 
on  her  mackintosh  on  the  bed.  He  did  not  want  to 
live.  We  could  hardly  force  him  to  drink  the  hot 
coffee  Tish  made  for  him.  He  kept  muttering  things 
about  his  loneliness  and  being  only  a  dirty  dago;  and 
then  he  turned  bitter  and  said  hard  things  about 
this  great  America,  where  he  could  find  no  work  and 
must  be  a  burden  on  his  three  mothers,  and  could 
not  bring  his  dear  sister  to  be  company  for  him. 
Aggie  quite  broke  down  and  had  to  lie  down  on 

71 


TISH  

the  sofa  in  the  parlor  and  have  a  cracker  and  a  cup 
of  tea. 

When  Tish  and  I  had  succeeded  in  making  Tufik 
promise  to  live,  and  had  given  him  one  of  his  own  silk 
kimonos  to  put  on  until  his  clothing  could  be  dried  — 
Charlie  Sands  having  disagreeably  refused  to  lend  his 
overcoat  —  and  when  we  had  given  the  officer  five 
dollars  not  to  arrest  the  boy  for  attempting  suicide, 
we  met  in  the  parlor  to  talk  things  over. 

Charlie  Sands  was  sitting  by  the  lamp  in  his  over 
coat.  He  had  put  our  railway  and  steamer  tickets  on 
the  table,  and  was  holding  his  cigarette  so  that  Aggie 
could  inhale  the  fumes,  she  having  hay  fever  and  her 
cubebs  being  on  their  way  to  Panama. 

"I  suppose  you  know,"  he  said  nastily,  "that  your 
train  has  gone  and  that  you  cannot  get  the  boat  to 
morrow?" 

Tish  was  in  an  exalted  mood  —  and  she  took  off 
her  things  and  flung  them  on  a  chair. 

"What  is  Panama,"  she  demanded,  "to  saving  a 
life?  Charlie,  we  must  plan  something  for  this  boy. 
If  you  will  take  off  your  overcoat  — " 

"And  see  you  put  it  on  that  little  parasite?  Not  if 
I  melt!  Do  you  know  how  deep  the  lake  is?  Three 
feet!" 

"One  can  drown  in  three  feet  of  water,"  said  Aggie 
sadly, "  if  one  is  very  tired  of  life.  People  drown  them 
selves  in  bathtubs." 

Tish's  furious  retort  to  this  was  lost,  Tufik  choosing 
that  moment  to  appear  in  the  doorway.  He  wore  a 

72 


TISH  

purple-and-gold  kimono  that  had  given  Tish  bron 
chitis  early  in  the  winter,  and  he  had  twisted  a  bath 
towel  round  the  waist.  He  looked  very  young,  very 
sad,  very  Oriental.  He  ignored  Charlie  Sands,  but 
made  at  once  for  Tish  and  dropped  on  one  knee  be 
side  her. 

"Miss  Tish!"  he  begged,  "Forgive,  Miss  Tish! 
Tufik  is  wicked.  He  has  the  bad  heart.  He  has  spoil 
the  going  on  the  canal.  No?" 

"Get  up!  "said  Tish.  "  Don't  be  a  silly  child.  Go 
and  take  your  shoes  out  of  the  oven.  We  are  not  go 
ing  to  Panama.  When  you  are  better,  I  am  going  to 
give  you  a  good  scolding." 

Charlie  Sands  put  the  cigarette  on  a  book  under 
Aggie's  nose  and  stood  up. 

"I  guess  I'll  go,"  he  said.  "My  nerves  are  not 
what  they  used  to  be  and  my  disposition  feels  the 
change." 

Tufik  had  risen  and  the  two  looked  at  each  other. 
I  could  not  quite  make  out  Tufik's  expression;  had  I 
not  known  his  gentleness  I  would  have  thought  his 
expression  a  mixture  of  triumph  and  disdain. 

" 'The  Assyrian  came  down  like  a  wolf  on  the  fold, 
and  his  cohorts  were  gleaming  in  purple  and  gold ! ' ' 
said  Charlie  Sands,  and  went  out,  slamming  the  door. 


Ill 

THE  next  day  was  rainy  and  cold.  Aggie  sneezed  all 
day  and  Tish  had  neuralgia.  Being  unable  to  go  out 
for  anything  to  eat  and  the  exaltation  of  the  night  be 
fore  having  passed,  she  was  in  a  bad  humor.  When  I 
got  there  she  was  sitting  in  her  room  holding  a  hot- 
water  bottle  to  her  face,  and  staring  bitterly  at  the 
plate  containing  a  piece  of  burned  toast  and  Tufik's 
specialty  —  a  Syrian  cake  crusted  with  sugar. 

" I  wish  he  had  drowned ! "  she  said.  "My  stomach 
's  gone,  Lizzie!  I  ate  one  of  those  cakes  for  break 
fast.  You've  got  to  eat  this  one." 

"I'll  do  nothing  of  the  sort!  This  is  your  doing, 
Tish  Carberry.  If  it  had  n't  been  for  you  and  your 
habit  of  picking  up  stray  cats  and  dogs  and  Orientals 
and  imposing  them  on  your  friends  we'd  be  on  the 
ocean  to-day,  on  our  way  to  a  decent  climate.  The 
next  time  your  duty  to  your  brother  man  overwhelms 
you,  you'd  better  lock  yourself  in  your  room  and 
throw  the  key  out  the  window." 

Tish  was  not  listening,  however.  Her  eye  and  her 
mind  both  were  on  the  cake. 

"If  you  would  eat  it  and  then  take  some  essence 
of  pepsin  — "  she  hazarded.  But  I  looked  her  full  in 
the  eye  and  she  had  the  grace  to  color.  "He  loves 
to  make  them,"  she  said  —  "he  positively  beamed 

74 


TISH 

when  he  brought  it.  He  has  another  kind  he  is  mak 
ing  now  —  of  pounded  beans,  or  something  like  that. 
Listen!"  I  listened.  From  back  in  the  kitchen  came 
a  sound  of  hammering  and  Tufik's  voice  lifted  in  a 
low,  plaintive  chant.  "  He  says  that  song  is  about  the 
valleys  of  Lebanon,"  said  Tish  miserably.  "Lizzie, 
if  you'll  eat  half  of  it,  I'll  eat  the  rest." 

My  answer  was  to  pick  up  the  plate  and  carry  it 
into  the  bathroom.  Heroic  measures  were  necessary: 
Tish  was  not  her  resolute  self;  and,  indeed,  through 
all  the  episode  of  Tufik,  and  the  shocking  denoue 
ment  that  followed,  Tish  was  a  spineless  individual 
who  swayed  to  and  fro  with  every  breeze. 

She  divined  my  purpose  and  followed  me  to  the 
bathroom  door. 

"Leave  some  crumbs  on  the  plate!"  she  whispered. 
"It  will  look  more  natural.  Get  rid  of  the  toast  too." 

I  turned  and  faced  her,  the  empty  plate  in  my 
hands. 

"Tish,"  I  said  sternly,  "this  is  hypocrisy,  which  is 
just  next  door  to  lying.  It's  the  first  step  downward. 
I  have  a  feeling  that  this  boy  is  demoralizing  us!  We 
shall  have  to  get  rid  of  him." 

"As  for  instance?"  she  sarcastically  asked. 

"Send  him  back  home,"  I  said  with  firmness.  "He 
does  n't  belong  here;  he  is  n't  accustomed  to  anything 
faster  than  a  camel.  He  does  n't  know  how  to  work 
—  none  of  them  do.  He  comes  from  a  country  where 
they  can  eat  food  like  this  because  digestion  is  one  of 
their  occupations." 

75 


TISH 


I  was  right  and  Tish  knew  it.  Even  Tufik  was  satis 
fied  when  we  put  it  up  to  him.  He  spread  his  hands  in 
his  Oriental  way  and  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"If  my  mothers  think  best,"  he  said  softly.  "In 
my  own  land  Tufik  is  known  —  I  sell  in  the  bazaar 
the  so  fine  lace  my  sister  make.  I  drink  wine,  not 
water.  My  stomach  —  I  cannot  eat  in  this  America. 
But  —  I  have  no  money." 

"We  will  furnish  the  money,"  Tish  said  gently. 
"But  you  must  promise  one  thing,  Tufik.  You  must 
not  become  a  Mohammedan." 

"Before  that  I  die!"  he  said  proudly. 

"And  —  there  is  something  else,  Tufik,  —  some 
thing  rather  personal.  But  I  want  you  to  promise. 
You  are  only  a  boy;  but  when  you  are  a  man — " 
Tish  stopped  and  looked  to  me  for  help. 

"Miss  Tish  means  this,"  I  put  in,  "you  are  to  have 
only  one  wife,  Tufik.  We  are  not  sending  you  back  to 
start  a  harem.  We  —  we  disapprove  strongly  of  —  er 

—  anything  like  that." 

"Tufik  takes  but  one  wife,"  he  said.   "Our  people 

—  we  have  but  one  wife.    My  first  child — it  is  called 
Tish;  my  next,  Lizzie;  and  my  next,  Aggie  Pilk.  All 
for  my  so  kind  friends.  And  one  I  call  Charlie  Sands; 
and  one  shall  be  Hannah.  So  that  Tufik  never  forget 
America." 

Aggie  was  rather  put  out  when  we  told  her  what 
we  had  done;  but  after  eating  one  of  the  cakes  made 
of  pounded  beans  and  sugar,  under  Tufik's  trium 
phant  eyes,  she  admitted  that  it  was  probably  for  the 

76 


TISH  

best.  That  evening,  while  Tufik  took  his  shrunken 
and  wrinkled  clothing  to  be  pressed  by  a  little  tailor  in 
the  neighborhood  who  did  Tish's  repairing,  the  three 
of  us  went  back  to  the  kitchen  and  tried  to  put  it  in 
order.  It  was  frightful — flour  and  burned  grease  over 
everything,  every  pan  dirty,  dishes  all  over  the  place, 
and  a  half -burned  cigarette  in  the  sugar  bin.  But — 
it  touched  us  all  deeply  —  he  had  found  an  old  photo 
graph  of  the  three  of  us  and  had  made  a  sort  of  shrine 
of  the  clock-shelf — the  picture  in  front  of  the  clock — 
and  in  front  of  the  picture  a  bunch  of  red  geraniums. 

While  we  were  looking  at  the  picture  and  Aggie 
was  at  the  sink  putting  water  in  the  glass  that  held 
the  geraniums,  Tufik  having  forgotten  to  do  so,  Tish's 
neighbor  from  the  apartment  below,  an  elderly  bach 
elor,  came  up  the  service  staircase  and  knocked  at  the 
door.  Tish  opened  it. 

"  Humph ! "  said  the  gentleman  from  below.  "  Gone 
is  he?" 

"Is  who  gone?" 

"Your  thieving  Syrian,  madam!" 

Tish  stiffened. 

"Perhaps,"  she  said,  "if  you  will  explain — " 

"Perhaps,"  snarled  the  visitor,  "you  will  explain 
what  you  have  done  with  my  geraniums !  Why  don't 
you  raise  your  own  flowers?" 

Tish  was  quite  stunned  and  so  was  I.  After  all,  it 
was  Aggie  who  came  to  the  rescue.  She  slammed 
the  lid  on  to  the  teakettle  and  set  it  on  the  stove  with 
a  bang. 

77 


TISH  

"If  you  mean,"  she  said  indignantly,  "that  you 
think  we  have  any  geraniums  of  yours  — " 

"Think!  Did  n't  my  cook  see  your  thieving  serv 
ant  steal  'em  off  the  box  on  the  fire-escape?" 

"Then,  perhaps,"  Aggie  suggested,  "you  will  look 
through  the  apartment  and  see  if  they  are  here.  You 
will  please  look  everywhere!" 

Tish  and  I  gasped.  It  was  not  until  the  visitor  had 
made  the  rounds  of  the  apartment,  and  had  taken  an 
apologetic  departure,  that  Tish  and  I  understood. 
The  teakettle  was  boiling  and  from  its  spout  coming 
a  spicy  and  familiar  odor.  Aggie  took  it  off  the  stove 
and  removed  the  lid.  The  geraniums,  boiled  to  a  pulp, 
were  inside. 

"Back  to  Syria  that  boy  goes!"  said  Tish,  viewing 
the  floral  remains.  "  He  did  it  out  of  love  and  we  must 
not  chide  him.  But  we  have  our  own  immortal  souls 
to  think  of." 

The  next  morning  two  things  happened.  We  gave 
Tufik  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  to  buy  a  ticket 
back  to  Syria  and  to  keep  him  in  funds  on  the  way. 
And  Tish  got  a  note  from  Hannah :  — 

Dear  Miss  Tish:  I  here  you  still  have  the  dago  —  or,  as 
my  sister's  husband  says,  he  still  has  you.  I  am  redy  to 
live  up  to  my  bargen  if  you  are.  HANNAH. 

P.S.  I  have  lerned  a  new  salud  —  very  rich,  but  delis- 
sious.  H. 

In  spite  of  herself,  Tish  looked  haunted.  It  was  the 
salad,  no  doubt.  She  said  nothing,  but  she  looked 
round  the  untidy  rooms,  where  everything  that  would 

78 


TISH  

hold  it  had  a  linen  cover  with  a  Cluny-lace  edge  — 
all  of  them  soiled  and  wrinkled.  She  watched  Tufik 
chanting  about  the  plains  of  Lebanon  and  shoving 
the  carpet-sweeper  with  a  bang  against  her  best  fur 
niture;  and,  with  Hannah's  salad  in  mind,  she  sniffed 
a  warning  odor  from  the  kitchen  that  told  of  more 
Syrian  experiments  with  her  digestion.  Tish  sur 
rendered:  that  morning  she  wrote  to  Hannah  that 
Tufik  was  going  back  to  Syria,  and  to  come  and  bring 
the  salad  recipe  with  her. 

That  was,  I  think,  on  a  Monday.  Tufik's  steamer 
sailed  on  Thursday.  On  Tuesday  Aggie  and  I  went 
shopping;  and  in  a  spirit  of  repentance  —  for  we  felt 
we  were  not  solving  Tufik's  question  but  getting  rid 
of  him  —  we  bought  him  a  complete  new  outfit.  He 
almost  disgraced  us  by  kissing  our  hands  in  the  store, 
and  while  we  were  buying  him  some  ties  he  disap 
peared  —  to  come  back  later  with  the  rims  of  his  eyes 
red  from  weeping.  His  gentle  soul  was  touched  with 
gratitude.  Aggie  had  to  tell  him  firmly  that  if  he 
kissed  any  more  hands  he  would  get  his  ears  boxed. 

The  clerks  in  the  store  were  all  interested,  and  two 
or  three  cash-boys  followed  us  round  and  stood,  open- 
mouthed,  staring  at  us.  Neither  Aggie  nor  I  knew  any 
thing  about  masculine  attire,  and  Tufik's  idea  was  a 
suit,  with  nothing  underneath,  a  shirt-front  and  collar 
of  celluloid,  and  a  green  necktie  already  tied  and- 
hooking  on  to  his  collar-button.  He  was  dazed  when 
we  bought  him  a  steamer  trunk  and  a  rug,  and  dis 
appeared;  again,  returning  in  a  few  moments 


TISH 


a  small  paper  bag  full  of  gumdrops.  We  were  quite 
touched. 

That,  as  I  say,  was  on  Tuesday.  Tufik  had  been 
sleeping  in  Tish's  guest-room  since  his  desperate  at 
tempt  at  suicide,  and  we  sent  his  things  to  Tish's 
apartment.  That  evening  Tufik  asked  permission  to 
spend  the  night  with  a  friend  in  the  restaurant  business 
—  a  Damascan.  Tish  let  him  go  against  my  advice. 

"He'll  eat  a  lot  of  that  Syrian  food,"  I  objected, 
"and  get  sick  and  miss  his  boat,  and  we'll  have  the 
whole  thing  over  again!" 

But  Tish  was  adamant.  "It's  his  last  night,"  she 
said,  "and  he  has  promised  not  to  smoke  any  cigar 
ettes  and  I  've  given  him  two  pepsin  tablets.  This  is 
the  land  of  the  free,  Lizzie." 

We  were  to  meet  Tufik  at  the  station  next  morning 
and  we  arranged  a  lunch  for  him  to  eat  on  the  train, 
Aggie  bringing  fried  chicken  and  I  sandwiches  and 
cake.  Tish's  domestic  arrangements  being  upset,  she 
supplied  fruit,  figs  and  dates  mostly,  to  make  him 
think  of  home. 

The  train  left  early,  and  none  of  us  felt  very  cheer 
ful  at  having  to  be  about.  Aggie  sat  in  the  station  and 
sneezed;  Tish  had  a  pain  above  her  eye  and  sat  by  a 
heater.  We  had  the  luncheon  in  a  large  shoebox, 
wrapped  in  oiled  paper  to  keep  it  moist. 

He  never  appeared!  The  train  was  called,  filled 
up,  and  left.  People  took  to  staring  at  us  as  we  sat 
there.  Aggie  sneezed  and  Tish  held  her  eye.  And  no 
Tufik!  In  a  sort  of  helpless,  breakfastless  rage  we 

80 


TISH 


called  a  taxicab  and  went  to  Tish's.    No  one  said 
much.   We  were  all  thinking. 

We  were  hungry;  so  we  spread  out  the  shoebox 
lunch  on  one  of  the  Cluny-lace  covers  and  ate  it, 
mostly  in  silence.  The  steamer  trunk  and  the  rug  had 
gone.  We  let  them  go.  They  might  go  to  Jerusalem 
as  far  as  we  were  concerned! 

After  we  had  eaten,  —  about  eleven  o'clock,  I 
think,  —  Tish  got  up  and  surveyed  the  apartment. 
Then,  with  a  savage  gleam  in  her  eye,  she  whisked  off 
all  the  fancy  linens,  the  Cluny  laces,  the  hemstitched 
bedspreads,  and  piled  them  in  a  heap  on  the  floor. 
Aggie  and  I  watched  her  in  silence.  She  said  nothing, 
but  kicked  the  whole  lot  into  the  bottom  of  a  cup 
board.  When  she  had  slammed  the  door,  she  turned 
and  faced  us  grimly. 

"That  roll  of  fiddle-de-dees  has  cost  me  about  five 
hundred  dollars,"  she  said.  "It's  been  worth  it  if  it 
teaches  me  that  I  'm  an  old  fool  and  that  you  are  two 
others!  If  that  boy  shows  his  face  here  again,  I'll 
hand  him  over  to  the  police." 

However,  as  it  happened,  she  did  nothing  of  the 
sort.  At  four  o'clock  that  afternoon  there  was  a  timid 
ring  at  the  doorbell  and  I  answered  it.  Outside  was 
Tufik,  forlorn  and  drooping,  and  held  up  by  main 
force  by  a  tall,  dark-skinned  man  with  a  heavy  mus 
tache. 

"I  bring  your  boy!"  said  the  mustached  person, 
smiling.  "He  has  great  trouble  —  sorrow;  he  faint 
with  grief." 

81 


TISH  

I  took  a  good  look  at  Tufik  then.  He  was  pale  and 
shaky,  and  his  new  suit  looked  as  if  he  had  slept  in  it. 
His  collar  was  bent  and  wilted,  and  the  green  necktie 
had  been  taken  off  and  exchanged  for  a  ragged  black 
one. 

"Miss  Liz!"  he  said  huskily.  "I  die;  the  heart  is 
gone!  My  parent  — " 

He  broke  down  again;  and  leaning  against  the  door 
jamb  he  buried  his  face  in  a  handkerchief  that  I  could 
not  believe  was  one  of  the  lot  we  had  bought  only 
yesterday.  I  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  Tish  had  said 
she  was  through  with  the  boy.  I  decided  to  close  them 
out  in  the  hallway  until  we  had  held  a  council;  but 
Tufik's  foot  was  on  the  sill,  and  the  more  I  asked  him 
to  move  it,  the  harder  he  wept. 

The  mustached  person  said  it  was  quite  true.  Tu- 
fik's  father  had  died  of  the  plague;  the  letter  had  come 
early  that  morning.  Beirut  was  full  of  the  plague.  He 
waved  the  letter  at  me;  but  I  ordered  him  to  burn  it 
immediately — on  account  of  germs.  I  brought  him 
a  shovel  to  burn  it  on;  and  when  that  was  over 
Tufik  had  worked  out  his  own  salvation.  He  was  at 
the  door  of  Tish's  room,  pouring  out  to  Aggie  and 
Tish  his  grief,  and  offering  the  black  necktie  as  proof. 

We  were  just  where  we  had  started,  but  minus  one 
hundred  and  twenty  dollars;  for,  the  black-mustached 
gentleman  having  gone  after  trying  to  sell  Tish 
another  silk  kimono,  I  demanded  Tufik's  ticket  —  to 
be  redeemed  —  and  was  met  with  two  empty  hands, 
outstretched. 

82 


TISH 


"Oh,  my  friends,  —  my  Miss  Tish,  my  Miss  Liz, 
my  Miss  Ag,  —  what  must  I  say?  I  have  not  the 
ticket!  I  have  been  wikkid  —  but  for  my  sister  — 
only  for  my  sister !  She  must  not  die  —  she  so  young, 
so  little  girl  1" 

"Tufik,"  said  Tish  sternly,  "I  want  you  to  tell  us 
everything  this  minute,  and  get  it  over." 

"She  ees  so  little!"  he  said  wistfully.  "And  the 
body  of  my  parent  —  could  I  let  it  lie  and  rot  in  the 
so  hot  sun?  Ah,  no;  Miss  Tish,  Miss  Liz,  Miss  Ag,  — 
not  so.  To-day  I  take  back  my  ticket,  get  the  money, 
and  send  it  to  my  sister.  She  will  bury  my  parent, 
and  then  —  she  comes  to  this  so  great  America,  the 
land  of  my  good  friends!" 

There  was  a  moment's  silence.  Then  Aggie  sneezed ! 


IV 

I  SHALL  pass  over  the  next  month,  with  its  unpleas 
antnesses;  over  Charlie  Sands's  coming  one  evening 
with  a  black  tie  and,  on  the  strength  of  having  killed 
a  dog  with  his  machine,  asking  for  money  to  bury  it 
and  bring  another  one  from  Syria!  I  shall  not  more 
than  mention  Hannah,  who  kept  Tish  physically 
comfortable  and  well  fed  and  mentally  wretched, 
having  a  teakettle  of  boiling  water  always  ready  if 
Tufik  came  to  the  apartment;  I  shall  say  nothing  of 
our  success  in  getting  him  employment  in  the  foreign 
department  of  a  bank,  and  his  ending  up  by  washing 
its  windows;  or  of  the  position  Tish  got  him  as  ele 
vator  boy  in  her  hospital,  where  he  jammed  the  car 
in  some  way  and  held  up  four  surgeons  and  three 
nurses  and  a  patient  on  his  way  to  the  operating-room 
—  until  the  patient  changed  his  mind  and  refused  to 
be  operated  on. 

Aggie  had  a  brilliant  idea  about  the  census  —  that 
he  could  make  the  census  reports  in  the  Syrian  dis 
trict.  To  this  end  she  worked  for  some  time,  coaching 
Tufik  for  the  examination,  only  to  have  him  fail  — 
fail  absolutely  and  without  hope.  He  was  staying  in 
the  Syrian  quarter  at  that  time,  on  account  of  Han 
nah;  and  he  brought  us  various  tempting  offers  now 
and  then  —  a  fruit  stand  that  could  be  bought  for  a 

84 


TISH  

hundred  dollars;  a  restaurant  for  fifty;  a  tailor's  shop 
for  twenty-five.  But,  as  he  knew  nothing  of  fruits  or 
restaurants  or  tailoring,  we  refused  to  invest.  Tish 
said  that  we  had  been  a  good  while  getting  to  it,  but 
that  we  were  being  businesslike  at  last.  We  gave  the 
boy  nine  dollars  a  week  and  not  a  penny  more;  and 
we  refused  to  buy  any  more  of  his  silly  linens  and 
crocheted  laces.  We  were  quite  firm  with  him. 

And  now  I  come  to  the  arriving  of  Tufik's  little 
sister  —  not  that  she  was  really  little.  But  that  comes 
later. 

Tufik  had  decided  at  last  on  what  he  would  be  in  our 
so  great  America.  Once  or  twice,  when  he  was  tired 
or  discouraged,  Tish  had  taken  him  out  in  her  ma 
chine,  and  he  had  been  thrilled  —  really  thrilled.  He 
did  not  seem  able  to  learn  how  to  crank  it  —  Tish's 
car  is  hard  to  crank  —  but  he  learned  how  to  light 
the  lamps  and  to  spot  a  policeman  two  blocks  away. 
Several  times,  when  we  were  going  into  the  country, 
Tish  took  him  because  it  gave  her  a  sense  of  security 
to  have  a  man  along. 

Having  come  from  a  country  where  the  general 
travel  is  by  camel,  however,  he  had  not  the  first  idea 
of  machinery.  He  thought  Tish  made  the  engine  go 
by  pressing  on  the  clutch  with  her  foot,  like  a  sewing 
machine,  and  he  regarded  her  strength  with  awe.  And 
once,  when  we  were  filling  a  tire  from  an  air  bottle  and 
the  tube  burst  and  struck  him,  he  declared  there  was 
a  demon  in  the  air  bottle  and  said  a  prayer  in  the 
middle  of  the  road.  About  that  time  Tish  learned  of 

85 


TISH 

a  school  for  chauffeurs,  and  the  three  of  us  decided 
to  divide  the  expense  and  send  him. 

"In  three  months,"  Tish  explained,  "we  can  get 
him  a  state  license  and  he  can  drive  a  taxicab.  It  will 
suit  him,  because  he  can  sit  to  do  it." 

So  Tufik  went  to  an  automobile  school  and  stood 
by  while  some  one  drew  pictures  of  parts  of  the  engine 
on  a  blackboard,  and  took  home  lists  of  words  that 
he  translated  into  Arabic  at  the  library,  and  learned 
everything  but  why  and  how  the  engine  of  an  auto 
mobile  goes.  He  still  thought  —  at  the  end  of  two 
months  —  that  the  driver  did  it  with  his  foot!  But 
we  were  ignorant  of  all  that.  He  would  drop  round  in 
the  evenings,  when  Hannah  was  out  or  in  bed,  and 
tell  us  what  "magneto"  was  in  Arabic,  and  how  he 
would  soon  be  able  to  care  for  Tish's  car  and  would 
not  take  a  cent  for  it,  doing  it  at  night  when  the  taxi- 
cab  was  resting. 

At  the  end  of  six  weeks  we  bought  him  a  chauffeur's 
outfit.  The  next  day  the  sister  arrived  and  Tufik 
brought  her  to  Aggie's,  where  we  were  waiting.  We 
had  not  told  Hannah  about  the  sister;  she  would  not 
have  understood. 

Charlie  Sands  telephoned  while  we  were  waiting 
and  asked  if  he  might  come  over  and  help  receive  the 
girl.  We  were  to  greet  her  and  welcome  her  to  Amer 
ica;  then  she  was  to  go  to  the  home  of  the  Syrian  with 
the  large  mustache.  Charlie  Sands  came  in  and  shook 
hands  all  round,  surveying  each  of  us  carefully. 

"Strange!"  he  muttered.  "Curious  is  no  name  for 

86 


TISH  

ft!  What  do  we  know  of  the  vagaries  of  the  human 
mind?  Three  minds  and  one  obsession!"  he  said  with 
the  utmost  gentleness.  "Three  maiden  ladies  who 
have  lived  impeccable  lives  for  far  be  it  from  me  to 
say  how  many  years;  and  now — this !  Oh,  Aunt  Tish ! 
Dear  Aunt  Tish!" 

He  got  out  his  handkerchief  and  wiped  his  eyes. 
Tish  was  speechless  with  rage,  but  I  rose  to  our  de 
fense. 

"We  don't  want  to  do  it  and  you  know  it!"  I  said 
tartly.  "But  when  the  Lord  sends  want  and  suffering 
to  one's  very  door  — " 

"Want,  with  large  brown  eyes  and  a  gentle  voice!" 
he  retorted.  "My  dear  ladies,  it's  your  money;  and  I 
dare  say  it  costs  you  less  than  bridge  at  five  cents  a 
point,  or  the  Gay  White  Way.  But,  for  Heaven's  sake, 
my  respected  but  foolish  virgins,  why  not  an  Ameri 
can  that  wants  a  real  job?  Why  let  a  sticky  Oriental 
pull  your  legs  — " 

"Charlie  Sands!"  cried  Tish,  rising  in  her  wrath. 
"I  will  not  endure  such  vulgarity.  And  when  Tufik 
takes  you  out  in  a  taxicab  — " 

"God  forbid!"  said  Charlie  Sands,  and  sat  down  to 
wait  for  Tufik's  sister. 

She  did  not  look  like  Tufik  and  she  was  tired  and 
dirty  from  the  journey;  but  she  had  big  brown  eyes 
and  masses  of  dark  hair  and  she  spoke  not  a  single 
word  of  English.  Tufik's  joy  was  boundless;  his  soft 
eyes  were  snapping  with  excitement;  and  Aggie,  who 
is  sentimental,  was  obliged  to  go  out  and  swallow  half 

87 


TISH 


a  glass  of  water  without  breathing  to  keep  from  cry 
ing.  Charlie  Sands  said  nothing,  but  sat  back  in  a 
corner  and  watched  us  all;  and  once  he  took  out  his 
notebook  and  made  a  memorandum  of  something. 
He  showed  it  to  us  later. 

Tufik's  sister  was  the  calmest  of  us  all,  I  believe. 
She  sat  on  a  stiff  chair  near  the  door  and  turned  her 
brown  eyes  from  one  to  the  other.  Tish  said  that 
proper  clothing  would  make  her  beautiful ;  and  Aggie, 
disappearing  for  a  few  minutes,  came  back  with  her 
last  summer's  foulard  and  a  jet  bonnet.  When  the 
poor  thing  understood  they  were  for  her,  she  looked 
almost  frightened,  the  thing  being  unexpected;  and 
Tufik,  in  a  paroxysm  of  delight,  kissed  all  our  hands 
and  the  girl  on  each  cheek. 

Tish  says  our  vulgar  lip-osculation  is  unknown  in 
the  Orient  and  that  they  rub  noses  by  way  of  greet 
ing.  I  think,  however,  that  she  is  mistaken  in  this  and 
that  the  Australians  are  the  nose-rubbers.  I  recall  a 
returned  missionary's  telling  this,  but  I  cannot  re 
member  just  where  he  had  been  stationed. 

Things  were  very  quiet  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  Tufik 
came  round  only  once  —  to  tell  us  that,  having  to  pay 
car  fare  to  get  to  the  automobile  school,  his  nine 
dollars  were  not  enough.  We  added  a  dollar  a  week 
under  protest;  and  Tish  suggested  with  some  asperity 
that  as  he  was  only  busy  four  hours  a  day  he  might 
find  some  light  employment  for  the  balance  of  the  day. 
He  spread  out  his  hands  and  drew  up  his  shoulders. 

"My  friends  are  angry,"  he  said  sadly.  "It  is  not 

88 


TISH 


enough  that  I  study?  I  must  also  work?  Ver'  well, 
I  labor.  I  sell  the  newspaper.  But,  to  buy  newspa 
pers,  one  must  have  money  —  a  dollar;  two  dollars. 
Ver'  leetle;  only  —  I  have  it  not." 

We  gave  him  another  dollar  and  he  went  out  smil 
ing  and  hopeful.  It  seemed  that  at  last  we  had  solved 
his  problem.  Tish  recalled  one  of  her  Sunday-school 
scholars  who  sold  papers  and  saved  enough  to  buy  a 
second-hand  automobile  and  rear  a  family.  But  our 
fond  hopes  were  dashed  to  the  ground  when,  the  next 
morning,  Hannah,  opening  the  door  at  Tish's  to 
bring  in  the  milk  bottles,  found  a  huge  stack  of  the 
night-before's  newspapers  and  a  note  on  top  ad 
dressed  to  Tish,  which  said:  — 

Deer  Mother  Tish :  You  see  now  that  I  am  no  good.  I 
wish  to  die!  I  hav  one  papier  sold,  and  newsboys  kell  me 
on  sight.  I  hav  but  you  and  God  —  and  God  has  forget! 

TUFIK. 

We  were  discouraged  and  so,  clearly,  was  Tufik. 
For  ten  days  we  did  not  hear  from  him,  except  that  a 
dirty  little  Syrian  boy  called  for  the  ten  dollars  on 
Saturday  and  brought  a  pair  of  Tufik's  shoes  for  us  to 
have  resoled.  But  one  day  Tish  telephoned  in  some 
excitement  and  said  that  Tufik  was  there  and  wanted 
us  to  go  to  a  wedding. 

"His  little  sister's  wedding!"  she  explained.  "The 
dear  child  is  all  excited.  He  says  it  has  been  going  on 
for  two  days  and  this  is  the  day  of  the  ceremony." 

Aggie  was  spending  the  afternoon  with  me,  and 
spoke  up  hastily. 

89 


TISH 


"Ask  her  if  I  have  time  to  go  home  and  put  on  my 
broadcloth,"  she  said.  "I 'm  not  fixed  for  a  wedding." 

Tish  said  there  was  no  time.  She  would  come  round 
with  the  machine  and  we  were  to  be  ready  in  fifteen 
minutes.  Aggie  hesitated  on  account  of  intending  to 
wash  her  hair  that  night  and  so  not  having  put  up  her 
crimps;  but  she  finally  agreed  to  go  and  Tish  came 
for  us.  Tufik  was  in  the  machine.  He  looked  very 
tidy  and  wore  the  shoes  we  had  had  repaired,  a  pink 
carnation  in  his  buttonhole,  and  an  air  of  suppressed 
excitement. 

"At  last,"  he  said  joyously  while  Tish  cranked  the 
car  —  "at  last  my  friends  see  my  three  mothers! 
They  think  Tufik  only  talks  —  now  they  see!  And 
the  priest  will  bless  my  mothers  on  this  so  happy  day." 

Tish  having  crawled  panting  from  her  exertion  into 
the  driver's  seat  and  taken  the  wheel,  in  sheer  excess 
of  boyish  excitement  he  leaned  over  and  kissed  the 
hand  nearest  him. 

The  janitor's  small  boy  was  on  the  curb  watching, 
and  at  that  he  set  up  a  yell  of  joy.  We  left  him  calling 
awful  things  after  us  and  Tish's  face  was  a  study;  but 
soon  the  care  of  the  machine  made  her  forget  every 
thing  else. 

The  Syrian  quarter  was  not  impressive.  It  was  on 
a  hillside  above  the  Russian  Jewish  colony,  and  con 
sisted  of  a  network  of  cobble-paved  alleys,  indescrib 
ably  dirty  and  incredibly  steep.  In  one  or  two  of  these 
alleys  Tish  was  obliged  to  turn  the  car  and  go  up 
backward,  her  machine  climbing  much  better  on  the 

90 


TISH 


reverse  gear.  Crowds  of  children  followed  us;  dogs 
got  under  the  wheels  and  apparently  died,  judging 
by  the  yelps  —  only  to  follow  us  with  undiminished 
energy  after  they  had  picked  themselves  up.  We 
fought  and  won  a  battle  with  a  barrel  of  ashes  and 
came  out  victorious  but  dusty;  and  at  last,  as  Tufik 
made  a  lordly  gesture,  we  stopped  at  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees  and  Tufik  bowed  us  out  of  the  car. 
He  stood  by  visibly  glowing  with  happiness,  while 
Tish  got  a  cobblestone  and  placed  it  under  a  wheel, 
and  Aggie  and  I  took  in  our  surroundings. 

We  were  in  an  alley  ten  feet  wide  and  paved  indis 
criminately  with  stones  and  tin  cans,  babies  and 
broken  bottles.  Before  us  was  a  two-story  brick  house 
with  broken  windows  and  a  high,  railed  wooden  stoop, 
minus  two  steps.  Under  the  stoop  was  a  door  leading 
into  a  cellar,  and  from  this  cellar  was  coming  a  curious 
stamping  noise  and  a  sound  as  of  an  animal  in  its 
death  throes. 

Aggie  caught  my  arm.  "What 's  that?"  she  quav 
ered. 

I  had  no  time  to  reply.  Tufik  had  thrown  open  the 
door  and  stood  aside  to  let  us  pass. 

"They  dance,"  he  said  gravely.  "There  is  always 
much  dancing  before  a  wedding.  The  music  one  hears 
is  of  Damascus  and  he  who  dances  now  is  a  sheik 
among  his  people." 

Reassured  as  to  the  sounds,  we  stepped  down  into 
the  basement.  That  was  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon. 

91 


TISH  

I  have  never  been  fairly  clear  as  to  what  followed 
and  Aggie's  memory  is  a  complete  blank.  I  remember 
a  long,  boarded-in  and  floored  cellar,  smelling  very 
damp  and  lighted  by  flaring  gas  jets.  The  center  was 
empty  save  for  a  swarthy  gentleman  in  a  fez  and  his 
shirt-sleeves,  wearing  a  pair  of  green  suspenders  and 
dancing  alone  —  a  curious  stamping  dance  that  kept 
time  to  a  drum.  I  remember  the  musicians  too  — 
three  of  them  in  a  corner:  one  playing  on  a  sort  of 
pipes-of-Pan  affair  of  reeds,  one  on  a  long-necked  in 
strument  that  looked  like  a  guitar  with  zither  am 
bitions,  and  a  drummer  who  chanted  with  his  eyes 
shut  and  kept  time  to  his  chants  by  beating  on  a 
sheepskin  tied  over  the  mouth  of  a  brass  bowl.  Round 
three  sides  of  the  room  were  long,  oil  cloth-covered 
tables;  and  in  preparation  for  the  ceremony  a  little 
Syrian  girl  was  sweeping  up  peanut  shells,  ashes,  and 
beer  bottles,  with  absolute  disregard  of  the  guests. 

All  round  the  wall,  behind  rows  of  beer  bottles, 
dishes  of  bananas,  and  plates  of  raw  liver,  were  men, 
—  soft-eyed  Syrians  with  white  teeth  gleaming  and 
black  hair  plastered  close  and  celluloid  collars,  — 
gentle-voiced,  urbane-mannered  Orientals,  who  came 
up  gravely  one  by  one  and  shook  hands  with  us;  who 
pressed  on  us  beer  and  peanuts  and  raw  liver. 

Aggie,  speaking  between  sneezes  and  over  the 
chanting  and  the  drum,  bent  toward  me.  "It's  a 
breath  of  the  Orient!"  she  said  ecstatically.  "Oh, 
Lizzie,  do  you  think  I  could  buy  that  drum  for  my 
tabouret?" 

92 


TISH 


"Orient!"  observed  Tish,  coughing.  "I'm  going 
out  and  take  the  switch-key  out  of  that  car.  And  I 
wish  I'd  brought  Charlie  Sands!" 

It  was  in  vain  we  reminded  her  that  the  Syrians  are 
a  pastoral  people  and  that  they  come  from  the  land 
of  the  Bible.  She  looked  round  her  grimly. 

"They  look  like  a  lot  of  bandits  to  me,"  she  sniffed. 
"And  there's  always  a  murder  at  a  wedding  of  this 
sort.  There  is  n't  a  woman  here  but  ourselves!" 

She  was  exceedingly  disagreeable  and  Aggie  and  I 
began  to  get  uncomfortable.  But  when  Tufik  brought 
us  little  thimble-sized  glasses  filled  with  a  milky  stuff, 
and  assured  us  that  the  women  had  only  gone  to  pre 
pare  the  bride,  we  felt  reassured.  He  said  that  eti 
quette  demanded  that  we  drink  the  milky  white  stuff. 

Tish  was  inclined  to  demur.  "Has  it  any  alcohol  in 
it?"  she  demanded. 

Tufik  did  not  understand,  but  he  said  it  was  harm 
less  and  given  to  all  the  Syrian  babies;  and  while  we 
were  still  undecided  Aggie  sniffed  it. 

"It  smells  like  paregoric,  Tish,"  she  said.  "I'm 
sure  it's  harmless." 

We  took  it  then.  It  tasted  sweet  and  rather  spicy, 
and  Aggie  said  it  stopped  her  sneezing  at  once.  It  was 
very  mild  and  pleasant,  and  rather  medicinal  in  its 
flavor.  We  each  had  two  little  glasses  —  and  Tish 
said  she  would  not  bother  about  the  switch-key.  The 
car  was  insured  against  theft. 

A  little  later  Aggie  said  she  used  to  do  a  little  jig 
step  when  she  was  a  girl,  and  if  they  would  play  slower 

93 


TISH 


she  would  like  to  see  if  she  had  forgotten  it.  Tish  did 
not  hear  this  —  she  was  talking  to  Tufik,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  she  got  up  and  went  out. 

Aggie  had  decided  to  ask  the  musicians  to  play  a 
little  slower  and  I  had  my  hands  full  with  her;  so  it 
was  with  horror  that,  shortly  after,  I  heard  the  whir 
ring  of  the  engine  and  through  the  cellar  window 
caught  a  glimpse  of  Tish's  machine  starting  off  up  the 
hill.  I  rose  excitedly,  but  Tufik  was  before  me,  smil 
ing  and  bowing. 

"Miss  Tish  has  gone  for  the  bride,"  he  said  softly. 
"The  taxicab  hav'  not  come.  Soon  the  priest  arrive, 
and  so  great  shame  —  the  bride  is  not  here!  Miss 
Tish  is  my  mother,  my  heart's  delight!" 

When  Aggie  realized  that  Tish  had  gone,  she  was 
rather  upset  —  she  depends  a  great  deal  on  Tish  — 
and  she  took  another  of  the  little  glasses  of  milky 
stuff  to  revive  her. 

I  was  a  little  bit  nervous  with  Tish  gone  and  the 
sun  setting  and  another  tub  of  beer  bottles  brought  in 
—  though  the  people  were  orderly  enough  and  Tufik 
stood  near.  But  Aggie  began  to  feel  very  strange,  and 
declared  that  the  man  with  the  sheepskin  drum  was 
winking  at  her  and  that  her  head  was  twitching  round 
on  her  shoulders.  And  when  a  dozen  or  so  young 
Syrians  formed  a  circle,  their  hands  on  each  other's 
shoulders,  and  sang  a  melancholy  chant,  stamping  to 
beat  time,  she  wept  with  sheer  sentiment. 

"Ha!  Hoo!  Ta,  Ta,  Ta!"  they  chanted  in  unison; 
and  Tufik  bent  over  us,  his  soft  eyes  beaming. 

94 


TISH 


"They  are  shepherds  and  the  sons  of  shepherds 
from  Palestine,"  he  whispered.  "That  is  the  shep 
herd's  call  to  his  sheep.  In  my  country  many  are 
shepherds.  Perhaps  some  day  you  go  with  me  back 
to  my  country,  and  we  hear  the  shepherd  call  his 
sheep  — *  Ha!  Hoo!  Ta,  Ta,Ta!'  —  and  we  hear  the 
sleepy  sheep  reply:  'Maaaa!" 

"It  is  too  beautiful!"  murmured  Aggie.  "It  is  the 
Holy  Land  all  over  again!  And  we  should  never  have 
known  this  but  for  you,  Tufik!" 

Just  then  some  one  near  the  door  clapped  his  hands 
and  all  the  noise  ceased.  Those  who  were  standing 
sat  down.  The  little  girl  with  the  broom  swept  the 
accumulations  of  the  room  under  a  chair  and  put  the 
broom  in  a  corner.  The  music  became  loud  and  stir 
ring. 

Aggie  swayed  toward  me.  "I'm  sick,  Lizzie!"  she 
gasped.  "  That  paregoric  stuff  has  poisoned  me.  Air ! " 

I  took  one  arm  and  Tufik  the  other,  and  we  got  her 
out  and  seated  on  one  of  the  wooden  steps.  She  was 
a  blue-green  color  and  the  whites  of  her  eyes  were 
yellow.  But  I  had  little  time  for  Aggie.  Tufik  caught 
my  hand  and  pointed. 

Tish's  machine  was  coming  down  the  alley.  Beside 
her  sat  Tufik's  sister,  sobbing  at  the  top  of  her  voice 
and  wearing  Aggie's  foulard,  a  pair  of  cotton  gloves, 
and  a  lace  curtain  over  her  head.  Behind  in  the  ton- 
neau  were  her  maid  of  honor,  a  young  Syrian  woman 
with  a  baby  in  her  arms  and  four  other  black-eyed 
children  about  her.  But  that  was  not  all.  In  front  of 

95 


TISH  

the  machine,  marching  slowly  and  with  dignity,  were 
three  bearded  gentlemen,  two  in  coats  and  one  in  a 
striped  vest,  blowing  on  curious  double  flutes  and 
making  a  shrill  wailing  noise.  And  all  round  were 
crowds  of  women  and  children,  carrying  tin  pans  and 
paper  bags  full  of  parched  peas,  which  they  were 
flinging  with  all  their  might. 

I  caught  Tish's  eye  as  the  procession  stopped,  and 
she  looked  subdued  —  almost  stunned.  The  pipers 
still  piped.  But  the  bride  refused  to  move.  Instead, 
her  wails  rose  higher;  and  Aggie,  who  had  paid  no 
attention  so  far,  but  was  sitting  back  with  her  eyes 
shut,  looked  up. 

"Lizzhie,"  she  said  thickly,  "Tish  looks  about  the 
way  I  feel."  And  with  that  she  fell  to  laughing  — 
awful  laughter  that  mingled  with  the  bride's  cries  and 
the  wail  of  the  pipes. 

The  bride,  after  a  struggle,  was  taken  by  force  from 
the  machine  and  placed  on  a  chair  against  the  wall. 
Her  veil  was  torn  and  her  wreath  crooked,  and  she 
observed  a  sulky  silence.  To  our  amazement,  Tufik 
was  still  smiling,  urbane  and  cheerful. 

"It  is  the  custom  of  my  country,  my  mothers,"  he 
said.  "The  bride  leave  with  tears  the  home  of  her 
good  parents  or  of  her  friends;  and  she  speak  no  word 
—  only  weep  —  until  she  is  marriaged.  Ah  —  the 
priest  1" 

The  rest  of  the  story  is  short  and  somewhat  blurred. 
Tish  having  broken  her  glasses,  Aggie  being,  as  one 
may  say,  hors  de  combat,  and  I  having  developed  a 

96 


TISH  

frightful  headache  in  the  dust  and  bad  air,  the  real 
meaning  of  what  was  occurring  did  not  penetrate  to 
any  of  us.  The  priest  officiated  from  a  table  in  the 
center  of  the  room,  on  which  he  placed  two  candles, 
an  Arabic  Bible,  and  a  sacred  picture,  all  of  which  he 
took  out  of  a  brown  valise.  He  himself  wore  a  long 
black  robe  and  a  beard,  and  looked,  as  Tish  observed, 
for  all  the  world  as  if  he  had  stepped  from  an  Egyp 
tian  painting.  Before  him  stood  Tufik's  sister,  the 
maid  of  honor  with  her  baby,  the  black-mustached 
friend  who  had  brought  Tufik  to  us  after  his  tragic 
attempt  at  suicide,  and  Tufik  himself. 

Everybody  held  lighted  candles,  and  the  heat  was 
frightful.  The  music  ceased,  there  was  much  exhort 
ing  in  Arabic,  much  reading  from  the  book,  many 
soft  replies  indiscriminately  from  the  four  principals 
—  and  then  suddenly  Tish  turned  and  gripped  my 
arm. 

"Lizzie,"  she  said  hoarsely,  "that  little  thief  and 
liar  has  done  us  again!  That  is  n't  his  sister  at  all. 
He's  marrying  her  —  for  us  to  keep!" 

Luckily  Aggie  grew  faint  again  at  that  moment,  and 
we  led  her  out  into  the  open  air.  Behind  us  the  cere 
mony  seemed  to  be  over;  the  drum  was  beating,  the 
pipes  screaming,  the  lute  thrumming. 

Tish  let  in  the  clutch  with  a  vicious  jerk,  and  the 
whir  of  the  engine  drowned  out  the  beating  of  the 
drum  and  the  clapping  of  the  hands.  Twilight  hid 
the  tin  cans  and  ash-barrels,  and  the  dogs  slept 
on  the  cool  pavements.  In  the  doorways  soft-eyed 

97 


TISH 


Syrian  women  rocked  their  babies  to  drowsy  chants. 
The  air  revived  Aggie.  She  leaned  forward  and 
touched  Tish  on  the  shoulder. 

"After  all,"  she  said  softly,  "if  he  loves  her  very 
much,  and  there  was  no  other  way  —  Do  you  re 
member  that  night  she  arrived  —  how  he  looked  at 
her?" 

"Yes,"  Tish  snapped.  "And  I  remember  the  way 
he  looked  at  us  every  time  he  wanted  money.  We  Ve 
been  a  lot  of  sheep  and  we've  been  sheared  good 
and  proper!  But  we  need  n't  bleat  with  joy  about 
it!" 

As  we  drew  up  at  my  door,  Tish  pulled  out  her 
watch. 

"It's  seven  o'clock,"  she  said  brusquely.  "I  am 
going  to  New  York  on  the  nine-forty  train  and  I  shall 
take  the  first  steamer  outward  bound  —  I  need  a  rest! 
I'll  go  anywhere  but  to  the  Holy  Land!" 

We  went  to  Panama. 

Two  months  afterward,  in  the  dusk  of  a  late  spring 
evening,  Charlie  Sands  met  us  at  the  station  and  took 
us  to  Tish's  in  a  taxicab.  We  were  homesick,  tired, 
and  dirty;  and  Aggie,  who  had  been  frightfully  sea 
sick,  was  clamoring  for  tea. 

As  the  taxicab  drew  up  at  the  curb,  Tish  clutched 
my  arm  and  Aggie  uttered  a  muffled  cry  and  promptly 
sneezed.  Seated  on  the  doorstep,  celluloid  collar 
shining,  the  brown  pasteboard  suitcase  at  his  feet, 
was  Tufik.  He  sat  calmly  smoking  a  cigarette,  his 


TISH 


eyes  upturned  in  placid  and  Oriental  contemplation 
of  the  heavens. 

"Drive  on!"  said  Tish  desperately.  "If  he  sees  us 
we  are  lostl" 

"Drive  where?"  demanded  Charlie. 

Tufik's  gaze  had  dropped  gradually  —  another 
moment  and  his  brown  eyes  would  rest  on  us.  But 
just  then  a  diversion  occurred.  A  window  overhead 
opened  with  a  slam  and  a  stream  of  hot  water  de 
scended.  It  had  been  carefully  aimed  —  as  if  with 
long  practice.  Tufik  was  apparently  not  surprised. 
He  side-stepped  it  with  a  boredom  as  of  many  rep 
etitions,  and,  picking  up  his  suitcase,  stood  at  a  safe 
distance  looking  up.  First,  in  his  gentle  voice  he 
addressed  the  window  in  Arabic;  then  from  a  safer 
distance  in  English. 

"You  ugly  old  she-wolf!"  he  said  softly.  "When 
my  three  old  women  come  back  I  eat  you,  skin  and 
bones,  —  and  they  shall  say  nothing !  They  love  me 
—  Tufik!  I  am  their  child.  Aye!  And  my  child  — 
which  comes  —  will  be  their  grandchild!" 

He  kissed  his  fingers  to  the  upper  window  which 
closed  with  a  slam.  Tufik  stooped,  picked  up  his  suit 
case,  and  saw  the  taxi  for  the  first  time.  Even  in 
the  twilight  we  saw  his  face  change,  his  brown  eyes 
brighten,  his  teeth  show  in  his  boyish  smile.  The 
taxicab  driver  had  stalled  his  engine  and  was  crank 
ing  it. 

"Sh!"  I  said  desperately,  and  we  all  cowered  back 
into  the  shadows. 

99 


TISH  

Tufik  approached,  uncertainty  changing  to  cer 
tainty.  The  engine  was  started  now.  Oh,  for  a  second 
of  time!  He  was  at  the  window  now,  peering  into  the 
darkness. 

"Miss  Tish!"  he  said  breathlessly.  No  one  an 
swered.  We  hardly  breathed.  And  then  suddenly 
Aggie  sneezed  1  "Miss  Pilk!"  he  shouted  in  delight. 
"My  mothers!  My  so  dear  friends  — " 

The  machine  jerked,  started,  moved  slowly  off.  He 
ran  beside  it,  a  hand  on  the  door.  Tish  bent  forward 
to  speak,  but  Charlie  Sands  put  his  hand  over  her 
mouth. 

And  so  we  left  him,  standing  in  the  street  unde 
cided,  staring  after  us  wistfully,  uncertainly  —  the 
suitcase,  full  of  Cluny-lace  centerpieces,  crocheted 
lace,  silk  kimonos,  and  embroidered  bedspreads,  in 
his  hand. 

That  night  we  hid  in  a  hotel  and  the  next  day  we 
started  for  Europe.  We  heard  nothing  from  Tufik; 
but  on  the  anniversary  of  Mr.  Wiggins's  death,  while 
we  were  in  Berlin,  Aggie  received  a  small  package 
forwarded  from  home.  It  was  a  small  lace  doily,  and 
pinned  to  it  was  a  card.  It  read :  — 

For  the  sadness,  Miss  Pilk! 

TUFIK. 

Aggie  cried  over  it. 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFERS 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFERS 


I  SUPPOSE  there  is  something  in  all  of  us  that  harks 
back  to  the  soil.  When  you  come  to  think  of  it,  what 
are  picnics  but  outcroppings  of  instinct?  No  one 
really  enjoys  them  or  expects  to  enjoy  them,  but  with 
the  first  warm  days  some  prehistoric  instinct  takes  us 
out  into  the  woods,  to  fry  potatoes  over  a  strangling 
wood  fire  and  spend  the  next  week  getting  grass  stains 
out  of  our  clothes.  It  must  be  instinct;  every  atom  of 
intelligence  warns  us  to  stay  at  home  near  the  refrig 
erator. 

Tish  is  really  a  child  of  instinct.  She  is  intelligent 
enough,  but  in  a  contest  between  instinct  and  brains, 
she  always  follows  her  instinct.  Aggie  under  the 
same  circumstances  follows  her  heart.  As  for  me,  I 
generally  follow  Tish  and  Aggie,  and  they  've  led  me 
into  some  curious  places. 

This  is  really  a  sort  of  apology,  because,  whereas 
usually  Tish  leads  off  and  we  follow  her,  in  the  adven 
ture  of  the  Simple  Life  we  were  all  equally  guilty. 
Tish  made  the  suggestion,  but  we  needed  no  urging. 

As  you  know,  this  summer  two  years  ago  was  a 
fairly  good  one,  as  summers  go,  —  plenty  of  fair 
weather,  only  two  or  three  really  hot  spells,  and  not 

103 


TISH  

a  great  deal  of  rain.  Charlie  Sands,  Tish's  nephew, 
went  over  to  England  in  June  to  report  the  visit  of 
the  French  President  to  London  for  his  newspaper, 
and  Tish's  automobile  had  been  sent  to  the  factory 
to  be  gone  over.  She  had  been  teaching  Aggie  to 
drive  it,  and  owing  to  Aggie's  thinking  she  had  her 
foot  on  the  brake  when  it  was  really  on  the  gas,  they 
had  leaped  a  four-foot  ditch  and  gone  down  into  a 
deep  ravine,  from  which  both  Tish  and  Aggie  had 
had  to  be  pulled  up  with  ropes. 

Well,  with  no  machine  and  Charlie  Sands  away,  we 
hardly  knew  how  to  plan  the  summer.  Tish  thought 
at  first  she  would  stay  at  home  and  learn  to  ride.  She 
thought  her  liver  needed  stirring  up.  She  used  to  ride, 
she  said,  and  it  was  like  sitting  in  a  rocking-chair,  only 
perhaps  more  so.  Aggie  and  I  went  out  to  her  first 
lesson;  but  when  I  found  she  had  bought  a  divided 
skirt  and  was  going  to  try  a  man's  saddle,  I  could  not 
restrain  my  indignation. 

"I'm  going,  Tish,"  I  said  firmly,  when  she  had 
come  out  of  the  dressing-room  and  I  realized  the  situ 
ation.  "I  shan't  attempt  to  restrain  you,  but  I  shall 
not  remain  to  witness  your  shame." 

Tish  eyed  me  coldly.  "When  you  wish  to  lecture 
me,"  she  snapped,  "about  revealing  to  the  public 
that  I  have  two  legs,  if  I  do  wear  a  skirt,  don't  stand 
in  a  sunny  doorway  in  that  linen  dress  of  yours.  I  am 
going  to  ride;  every  woman  should  ride.  It's  good 
for  the  liver." 

I  think  she  rather  wavered  when  they  brought  the 

104 


TISH  

horse,  which  looked  larger  than  usual  and  had  a 
Roman  nose.  The  instructor  handed  Tish  four  lines 
and  she  grabbed  them  nervously  in  a  bunch. 

"Just  a  moment!"  said  the  instructor,  and  slipped 
a  line  between  each  two  of  her  fingers. 

Tish  looked  rather  startled.  "When  I  used  to 
ride  — "  she  began  with  dignity. 

But  the  instructor  only  smiled.  "These  two  are 
for  the  curb,"  he  said  —  "if  he  bolts  or  anything  like 
that,  you  know.  Whoa,  Viper!  Still,  old  man!" 

"Viper ! "  Tish  repeated,  clutching  at  the  lines.  " Is 
-  is  he  —  er  —  nasty?  " 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,"  said  the  instructor,  while  he  pre 
pared  to  hoist  her  up.  "He 's  as  gentle  as  a  woman  to 
the  people  he  likes.  His  only  fault  is  that  he 's  apt  to 
take  a  little  nip  out  of  the  stablemen  now  and  then. 
He's  very  fond  of  ladies." 

"Humph!"  said  Tish.  "He's  looking  at  me  rather 
strangely,  don't  you  think?  Has  he  been  fed  lately?" 

"Perhaps  he  sees  that  divided  skirt,"  I  suggested. 

Tish  gave  me  one  look  and  got  on  the  horse.  They 
walked  round  the  ring  at  first  and  Tish  seemed  to  like 
it.  Then  a  stableman  put  a  nickel  into  a  player-piano 
and  that  seemed  to  be  a  signal  for  the  thing  to  trot. 
Tish  said  afterward  that  she  never  hit  the  horse's  back 
twice  in  the  same  place.  Once,  she  says,  she  came 
down  on  his  neck,  and  several  times  she  was  back 
somewhere  about  his  tail.  Every  time  she  landed, 
wherever  it  might  be,  he  gave  a  heave  and  sent  her  up 
again.  She  tried  to  say  "Whoa,"  but  it  came  out  in 

105 


TISH  

pieces,  so  to  speak,  and  the  creature  seemed  to  be  en 
couraged  by  it  and  took  to  going  faster.  By  that  time, 
she  said,  she  was  n't  coming  down  at  all,  but  was  in 
the  air  all  the  time,  with  the  horse  coming  up  at  the 
rate  of  fifty  revolutions  a  second.  She  had  presence 
of  mind  enough  to  keep  her  mouth  shut  so  she  would 
n't  bite  her  tongue  off. 

After  four  times  round  the  music  stopped  and  the 
horse  did  also.  They  were  just  in  front  of  us,  and 
Tish  looked  rather  dazed. 

"You  did  splendidly!"  said  Aggie.  "Honestly, 
Tish,  I  was  frightened  at  first,  but  you  and  that  dear 
horse  seemed  one  piece.  Did  n't  they,  Lizzie?" 

Tish  straightened  out  the  fingers  of  her  left  hand 
with  her  right  and  extricated  the  lines.  Then  she 
turned  her  head  slowly  from  right  to  left  to  see  if  she 
could. 

"Help  me  down,  somebody,"  she  said  in  a  thin 
voice,  "and  call  an  osteopath.  There  is  something 
wrong  with  my  spine!" 

She  was  in  bed  three  days,  having  massage  and  a 
vibrator  and  being  rubbed  with  chloroform  liniment. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  she  offered  me  her  divided 
skirt,  but  I  refused. 

"Riding  would  be  good  for  your  liver,  Lizzie,"  she 
said,  sitting  up  in  bed  with  pillows  all  about  her. 

"I  don't  intend  to  detach  it  to  do  it  good,"  I  re 
torted.  "What  your  liver  and  mine  and  most  of  the 
other  livers  need  these  days  is  n't  to  be  sent  out  in  a 
divided  skirt  and  beaten  to  a  jelly :  they  need  rest  — 

106 


TISH  

less  food  and  simpler  food.  If  instead  of  taking  your 
liver  on  a  horse  you  'd  put  it  in  a  tent  and  feed  it  nuts 
and  berries,  you  would  n't  be  the  color  you  are  to-day, 
Tish  Carberry." 

That  really  started  the  whole  thing,  although  at  the 
time  Tish  said  nothing.  She  has  a  way  of  getting  an 
idea  and  letting  it  simmer  on  the  back  of  her  brain, 
as  you  may  say,  when  nobody  knows  it's  been  cook 
ing  at  all,  and  then  suddenly  bringing  it  out  cooked 
and  seasoned  and  ready  to  serve. 

On  the  day  Tish  sat  up  for  the  first  time,  Aggie  and 
I  went  over  to  see  her.  Hannah,  the  maid,  had  got 
her  out  of  bed  to  a  window,  and  Tish  was  sitting  there 
with  books  all  about  her.  It  is  in  times  of  enforced 
physical  idleness  that  most  of  Tish's  ideas  come  to 
her,  and  Aggie  had  reminded  me  of  that  fact  on  the 
way  over. 

"You  remember,  Lizzie,"  she  said,  "how  last  win 
ter  when  she  was  getting  over  the  grippe  she  took 
up  that  correspondence-school  course  in  swimming. 
If  she's  reading,  watch  her  books.  It'll  probably  be 
suffrage  or  airships." 

Tish  always  believes  anything  she  reads.  She  had 
been  quite  sure  she  could  swim  after  six  correspon 
dence  lessons.  She  had  all  the  movements  exactly,  and 
had  worried  her  trained  nurse  almost  into  hysteria 
for  a  week  by  turning  on  her  face  in  bed  every  now 
and  then  and  trying  the  overhand  stroke.  She  got 
very  expert,  and  had  decided  she'd  swim  regularly, 
and  even  had  Charlie  Sands  show  her  the  Australian 

107 


TISH 

crawl  business  so  she  could  go  over  some  time  and 
swim  the  Channel.  It  was  a  matter  of  breathing 
and  of  changing  positions,  she  said,  and  was  up  to  in 
telligence  rather  than  muscle. 

Then  when  she  was  quite  strong,  she  had  gone  to 
the  natatorium.  Aggie  and  I  went  along,  not  that  we 
were  any  good  in  emergency,  but  because  Tish  had 
convinced  us  there  would  be  no  emergency.  And  Tish 
went  in  at  the  deep  end  of  the  pool,  head  first,  ac 
cording  to  diagram,  and  did  not  come  up. 

Well,  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  threatening  in 
what  Tish  was  reading  this  time.  She  had  ordered 
some  books  for  Maria  Lee's  children  and  was  looking 
them  over  before  she  sent  them.  The  "Young  Woods 
man"  was  one  and  "Camper  Craft"  was  another. 
How  I  shudder  when  I  recall  those  names! 

Aggie  had  baked  an  angel  cake  and  I  had  brought 
over  a  jar  of  cookies.  But  Tish  only  thanked  us  and 
asked  Hannah  to  take  them  out.  Even  then  we  were 
not  suspicious.  Tish  sat  back  among  her  pillows  and 
said  very  little.  The  conversation  was  something  like 
this:- 

Aggie :  Well,  you  're  up  again :  I  hope  to  goodness  it  will 
be  a  lesson  to  you.  If  you  don't  mind,  I  'd  like  Hannah  to 
cut  that  cake.  It  fell  in  the  middle. 

Tish:  Do  you  know  that  the  Indians  never  sweetened 
their  food  and  that  they  developed  absolutely  perfect  teeth? 

Aggie  :  Well,  they  never  had  any  automobiles  either,  but 
they  did  n't  develop  wings. 

Lizzie:  Don't  you  want  that  window  closed?  I'm  in  a 
draft. 

108 


TISH 


Tish :  Air  in  motion  never  gave  any  one  a  cold.  We  do 
not  catch  cold;  we  catch  heat.  It's  ridiculous  the  way  we 
shut  ourselves  up  in  houses  and  expect  to  remain  well. 

Aggie  :  Well,  I  'b  catchig  sobethig. 

Lizzie  (changing  the  subject] :  Would  you  like  me  to  help 
you  dress?  It  might  rest  your  back  to  have  your  corset  on. 

Tish  (firmly) :  I  shall  never  wear  a  corset  again. 

Aggie  (sneezing) :  Why?   Did  n't  the  Iddiads  wear  theb? 

Tish  is  very  sensitive  to  lack  of  sympathy  and  she 
shut  up  like  a  clam.  She  was  coldly  polite  to  us  for  the 
remainder  of  our  visit,  but  she  did  not  again  refer  to 
the  Indians,  which  in  itself  was  suspicious. 

Fortunately  for  us,  or  unfortunately,  Tish's  new 
scheme  was  one  she  could  not  very  well  carry  out  alone. 
I  believe  she  tried  to  induce  Hannah  to  go  with  her, 
and  only  when  Hannah  failed  her  did  she  turn  to  us. 
Hannah  was  frightened  and  came  to  warn  us. 

I  remember  the  occasion  very  well.  It  was  Mr. 
Wiggins's  birthday  anniversary,  and  we  usually  dine 
at  Aggie's  and  have  a  cake  with  thirty  candles  on  it. 
Tish  was  not  yet  able  to  be  about,  so  Aggie  and  I  ate 
together.  She  always  likes  to  sit  until  the  last  candle 
is  burned  out,  which  is  rather  dispiriting  and  always 
leaves  me  low  in  my  mind. 

Just  as  it  flickered  and  went  out,  Hannah  came  in. 

"Miss  Tish  sent  over  Mr.  Charlie's  letter  from 
London,"  said  Hannah,  and  put  it  in  front  of  Aggie. 
Then  she  sat  down  on  a  chair  and  commenced  to  cry. 

"Why,  Hannah! "  said  Aggie.  "What  in  the  world 
has  happened?" 

"She's  off  again!"  sniveled  Hannah;  "and  she's 
109 


TISH 


worse  this  time  than  she's  ever  been.  No  sugar,  no 
tea,  only  nuts  and  fruit,  and  her  windows  open  all 
night,  with  the  curtains  getting  black.  I  wisht  I  had 
Mr.  Charlie  by  the  neck." 

I  suppose  it  came  over  both  of  us  at  the  same  time — 
the  "Young  Woodsman,"  and  the  "Camper  Craft," 
and  no  stays,  and  all  that.  I  reached  for  Charlie 
Sands's  letter,  which  was  always  sent  to  Tish  and 
meant  for  all  of  us.  He  wrote:  — 

Dear  Three  of  a  Kind :  Well,  the  French  President  has 
came  and  went,  and  London  has  taken  down  all  the  bril 
liant  flags  which  greeted  him,  such  tactful  bits  as  bore 
Cressy  and  Agincourt,  and  the  pretty  little  smallpox  and 
"plague  here"  banners,  and  has  gone  back  to  such  inno 
cent  diversions  as  baiting  cabinet  ministers,  blowing  up 
public  buildings,  or  going  out  into  the  woods  seeking  the 
Simple  Life. 

The  Simple  Lifers  travel  in  bands  —  and  little  else.  They 
go  barefooted,  barearmed,  bareheaded  and  barenecked. 
They  wear  one  garment,  I  believe,  let  their  hair  hang  and 
their  beards  grow,  eat  only  what  Nature  provides,  such 
as  nuts  and  fruits,  sleep  under  the  stars,  and  drink  from 
Nature's  pools.  Rather  bully,  isn't  it?  They're  a  hand 
some  lot  generally,  brown  as  nuts.  And  I  saw  a  girl  yes 
terday  —  well,  if  you  do  not  hear  from  me  for  a  time  it  will 
be  because  I  have  discarded  the  pockets  in  which  I  carry 
my  fountain  pen  and  my  stamps  and  am  wandering  bare 
foot  through  the  Elysian  fields. 

Yours  for  the  Simple  Life, 

CHARLIE  SANDS. 

As  I  finished  reading  the  letter  aloud,  I  looked  at 
Aggie  in  dismay.  "That  settles  it,"  I  said  hopelessly. 
"She  had  some  such  idea  before,  and  now  this  young 

110 


TISH  

idiot  — "  I  stopped  and  stared  across  the  table  at 
Aggie.  She  was  sitting  rapt,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the 
smouldering  wicks  of  Mr.  Wiggins 's  candles. 

"Barefoot  through  the  Elysian  fields!"  she  said 
softly. 


II 

I  AM  not  trying  to  defend  myself.  I  never  had  the  en 
thusiasm  of  the  other  two,  but  I  rather  liked  the  idea. 
And  I  did  restrain  them.  It  was  my  suggestion,  for 
instance,  that  we  wear  sandals  without  stockings,  in 
stead  of  going  in  our  bare  feet,  which  was  a  good  thing, 
for  the  first  day  out  Aggie  stepped  into  a  hornet's 
nest.  And  I  made  out  the  lists. 

The  idea,  of  course,  is  not  how  much  one  can  carry, 
but  how  little.  The  "Young  Woodsman"  told  ex 
actly  how  to  manage  in  the  woods  if  one  were  lost 
there  and  had  nothing  in  the  world  but  a  bootlace  and 
a  wire  hairpin. 

With  the  hairpin  one  could  easily  make  a  fair  fish 
hook  —  and  with  a  bootlace  or  a  good  hemp  cord  one 
could  make  a  rabbit  snare. 

"So  you  see,"  Tish  explained,  "there's  fish  and 
meat  with  no  trouble  at  all.  And  there  will  be  berries 
and  nuts.  That's  a  diet  for  a  king." 

I  was  making  a  list  of  the  necessaries  at  the  time 
and  under  bootlaces  and  hairpins  I  put  down  "spade." 

"What  in  Heaven's  name  is  the  spade  for?"  Tish 
demanded. 

"  You've  got  to  dig  bait,  have  n't  you?" 

Tish  eyed  me  with  disgust. 

"Grasshoppers!"  she  said  tersely. 


TISH 


There  was  really  nothing  Tish  was  not  prepared 
for.  I  should  never  have  thought  of  grasshoppers. 

"The  idea  is  simply  this,"  observed  Tish:  "We 
have  surrounded  ourselves  with  a  thousand  and  one 
things  we  do  not  need  and  would  be  better  without — 
houses,  foolish  clothing,  electric  light,  idiotic  servants 
—  Hannah,  get  away  from  that  door !  —  rich  foods, 
furniture  and  crowds  of  people.  We  Ve  developed  and 
cared  for  our  bodies  instead  of  our  souls.  What  we 
want  is  to  get  out  into  the  woods  and  think;  to  forget 
these  pampered  bodies  of  ours  and  to  let  our  souls 
grow  and  assert  themselves." 

We  decided  finally  to  take  a  blanket  apiece,  rolled 
on  our  shoulders,  and  Tish  and  I  each  took  a  strong 
knife.  Aggie,  instead  of  the  knife,  took  a  pair  of  scis 
sors.  We  took  a  small  bottle  of  blackberry  cordial 
for  emergencies,  a  cake  of  soap,  a  salt-cellar  for  sea 
soning  the  fish  and  rabbits,  two  towels,  a  package  of 
court-plaster,  Aggie's  hay-fever  remedy,  a  bottle  of  oil 
of  pennyroyal  to  use  against  mosquitoes,  and  a  large 
piece  of  canvas,  light  but  strong,  cut  like  the  diagram, 


Tish  said  it  was  the  regulation  Indian  tepee,  and 
that  a  squaw  could  set  one  up  in  an  hour  and  have 

113 


TISH  

dinner  cooked  inside  it  in  thirty  minutes  after.  She 
said  she  guessed  we  could  do  it  if  an  Indian  squaw 
could,  and  that  after  we'd  cut  the  poles  once,  we 
could  carry  them  with  us  if  we  wished  to  move.  She 
said  the  tent  ought  to  be  ornamented,  but  she  had  had 
no  time,  and  we  could  paint  designs  on  it  with  colored 
clay  in  the  woods  when  we  had  nothing  more  impor 
tant  to  do! 

It  made  a  largish  bundle,  but  we  did  not  intend  to 
travel  much.  We  thought  we  could  find  a  good  place 
by  a  lake  somewhere  and  put  up  the  tent,  and  set  a 
few  snares,  and  locate  the  nearest  berry-bushes  and 
mushroom-patches,  and  then,  while  the  rabbits  were 
catching  themselves,  we  should  have  time  to  get  ac 
quainted  with  our  souls  again. 

Tish  put  it  in  her  terse  manner  most  intelligently. 
"We  intend  to  prove,"  she  stated  to  Mrs.  Ostermaier, 
the  minister's  wife,  who  came  to  call  and  found  us  all 
sitting  on  the  floor  trying  to  get  used  to  it,  for  of 
course  there  would  be  no  chairs,  "  we  shall  prove  that 
the  trappings  of  civilization  are  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 
We  shall  bring  back  'Mens  sana  in  corpore  sano.": 

The  minister's  wife  thought  this  was  a  disease,  for 
she  said,  "I  hope  not,  I'm  sure,"  very  hastily. 

"We  shall  make  our  own  fire  and  our  own  shelter," 
said  Tish  from  the  floor.  "  We  shall  wear  one  garment, 
loose  enough  to  allow  entire  freedom  of  movement. 
We  shall  bathe  in  Nature's  pools  and  come  out 
cleansed.  On  the  Sabbath  we  shall  attend  divine 
service  under  the  Gothic  arches  of  the  trees,  read  ser- 

114 


TISH  

mons  in  stones,  and  instead  of  that  whining  tenor  in 
the  choir  we  shall  listen  to  the  birds  singing  praises 
overhead." 

Mrs.  Ostermaier  looked  rather  bewildered.  "I'm 
sure  I  hope  so,"  she  said  vaguely.  "  I  don't  like  camp 
ing  myself.  There  are  so  many  bugs." 

As  Tish  said,  some  ideas  are  so  large  that  the  aver 
age  person  cannot  see  them  at  all. 

We  had  fixed  on  Maine.  It  seemed  to  combine  all 
the  necessary  qualities:  woods  and  lakes,  rabbits, 
game  and  fish,  and  —  solitude.  Besides,  Aggie's  hay 
fever  is  better  the  farther  north  she  gets.  On  the  day 
we  were  leaving,  Mr.  Ostermaier  came  to  see  us. 

"I  —  I  really  must  protest,  ladies,"  he  said.  "That 
sort  of  thing  may  be  all  right  for  savages,  but  — " 

"Are  we  not  as  intelligent  as  savages?"  Tish  de 
manded. 

"Primitive  people  are  inured  to  hardships,  and 
besides,  they  have  methods  of  their  own.  They  can 
make  fire — " 

"So  can  I,"  retorted  Tish.  "Any  fool  can  make  a 
fire  with  a  rubbing-stick.  It 's  been  done  in  thirty-one 
seconds." 

"If  you  would  only  take  some  matches,"  he  wailed, 
"  and  a  good  revolver,  Miss  Letitia.  And  —  you  must 
pardon  this,  but  I  have  your  well-being  at  heart  — 
if  I  could  persuade  you  to  take  along  some  —  er  — 
flannels  and  warm  clothing!" 

"Clothing,"  said  Tish  loftily,  "is  a  matter  of  habit, 
Mr.  Ostermaier." 

115 


T1SH  

I  think  he  got  the  idea  from  this  that  we  intended 
to  discard  clothing  altogether,  for  he  went  away 
almost  immediately,  looking  rather  upset,  and  he 
preached  on  the  following  Sunday  from  "Consider 
the  lilies  of  the  field.  .  .  .  Even  Solomon  in  all  his 
glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these." 

We  left  on  Monday  evening,  and  by  Tuesday  at 
noon  we  were  at  our  destination,  as  far  as  the  railroad 
was  concerned.  Tish  had  a  map  with  the  lake  we'd 
picked  out,  and  we  had  figured  that  we  'd  drive  out  to 
within  ten  miles  or  so  of  it  and  then  send  the  driver 
back.  The  lake  was  in  an  uninhabited  neighborhood, 
with  the  nearest  town  twenty-five  miles  away.  We 
had  one  suitcase  containing  our  blankets,  sandals, 
short  dresses,  soap,  hairpins,  salt-box,  knives,  scissors, 
and  a  compass,  and  the  leather  thongs  for  rabbit 
snares  that  we  had  had  cut  at  a  harness  shop.  In 
the  other  suitcase  was  the  tepee. 

We  ate  a  substantial  breakfast  at  Tish's  suggestion, 
because  we  expected  to  be  fairly  busy  the  first  day 
and  there  would  be  no  time  for  hunting.  We  had  to 
walk  ten  miles,  set  up  the  tent,  make  a  fire  and  gather 
nuts  and  berries.  It  was  about  that  time,  I  think,  that 
I  happened  to  recall  that  it  was  early  for  nuts.  Still 
there  would  be  berries,  and  Tish  had  added  mush 
rooms  to  our  menu. 

We  found  a  man  with  a  spring  wagon  to  drive  us 
out  and  Tish  showed  him  the  map. 

"I  guess  I  can  get  you  out  that  way,"  he  said,  "but 
I  ain't  heard  of  no  camp  up  that  direction." 

116 


TISH  

"Who  said  anything  about  a  camp?"  snapped 
Tish.  "How  much  to  drive  us  fifteen  miles  in  that 
direction?  " 

"Fifteen  miles!  Well,  about  five  dollars,  but  I 
think—" 

"How  much  to  drive  us  fifteen  miles  without 
thinking?  " 

"Ten  dollars,"  said  the  man;  and  as  he  had  the  only 
wagon  in  the  town  we  had  to  pay  it. 

It  was  a  lovely  day,  although  very  warm.  The 
morning  sun  turned  the  woods  to  fairy  like  glades. 
Tish  sat  on  the  front  seat,  erect  and  staring  ahead. 

Aggie  bent  over  and  touched  my  arm  lightly.  "Is 
n't  she  wonderful! "  she  whispered;  "like  some  adven 
turer  of  old  —  Balboa  discovering  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
or  Joan  of  Arc  leading  the  what-you-call-'ems." 

But  somehow  my  enthusiasm  was  dying.  The  sun 
was  hot  and  there  were  no  berry-bushes  to  be  seen. 
Aggie's  fairy  glades  in  the  woods  were  filled,  not 
with  dancing  sprites,  but  with  gnats.  I  wanted  a  glass 
of  iced  tea,  and  some  chicken  saladj  and  talcum 
powder  down  my  neck.  The  road  was  bad,  and  the 
driver  seemed  to  have  a  joke  to  himself,  for  every 
now  and  then  he  chuckled,  and  kept  his  eyes  on  the 
woods  on  each  side,  as  if  he  expected  to  see  some 
thing.  His  manner  puzzled  us  all. 

"  You  can  trust  me  not  to  say  anything,  ladies,"  he 
said  at  last,"  but  don't  you  think  you  're  playing  it  a 
bit  low  down?  This  ain't  quite  up  to  contract,  is  it?" 

"You've  been  drinking!"  said  Tish  shortly. 
117 


TISH 


After  that  he  let  her  alone,  but  soon  after  he  turned 
round  to  me  and  made  another  venture. 

"In  case  you  need  grub,  lady,"  he  said," — and 
them  two  suitcases  don't  hold  a  lot,  —  I'll  bring  out 
anything  you  say :  eggs  and  butter  and  garden  truck 
at  market  prices.  I'm  no  phy-lanthropist,"  he  said, 
glaring  at  Tish,  "but  I'd  be  glad  to  help  the  girl,  and 
that's  the  truth.  I  been  married  to  this  here  wife  o' 
mine  quite  a  spell,  and  to  my  first  one  for  twenty 
years,  and  I'm  a  believer  in  married  life." 

"What  girl?"  I  asked. 

He  turned  right  round  in  the  seat  and  winked  at  me. 

"All  right,"  he  said.  "I'll  not  butt  in  unless  you 
need  me.  But  I'd  like  to  know  one  thing:  He  has  n't 
got  a  mother,  he  says,  so  I  take  it  you're  his  aunts. 
Am  I  on,  ladies?" 

We  did  n't  know  what  he  was  talking  about,  and 
we  said  so.  But  he  only  smiled.  A  mile  or  so  from  our 
destination  the  horse  scared  up  a  rabbit,  and  Tish 
could  hardly  be  restrained  from  running  after  it  with 
a  leather  thong.  Aggie,  however,  turned  a  little  pale. 

"I'll  never  be  able  to  eat  one,  never!"  she  confided 
to  me.  "Did  you  see  its  eyes?  Lizzie,  do  you  re 
member  Mr.  Wiggins's  eyes?  and  the  way  he  used  to 
move  his  nose,  just  like  that?" 

At  the  end  of  fifteen  miles  the  driver  drew  up  his 
horses  and  took  a  fresh  chew  of  tobacco. 

"I  guess  this  is  about  right,"  he  said.  "That  trail 
there  '11  take  you  to  the  lake.  How  long  do  you  reckon 
it'll  be  before  you'll  need  some  fresh  eggs?" 

118 


TISH  

"We  are  quite  able  to  look  after  ourselves,"  said 
Tish  with  hauteur,  and  got  out  of  the  wagon.  She 
paid  him  off  at  once  and  sat  down  on  her  suitcase 
until  he  had  driven  out  of  sight.  He  drove  slowly, 
looking  back  every  now  and  then,  and  his  last  view 
of  us  must  have  been  impressive  —  three  middle-aged 
and  determined  women  ready  to  conquer  the  wilder 
ness,  as  Tish  put  it,  and  two  suitcases. 

It  was  as  solitary  a  place  as  we  could  have  wished. 
We  had  not  seen  a  house  in  ten  miles,  and  when  the 
last  creak  of  the  wagon  had  died  away  there  was  a 
silence  that  made  our  city-broke  ears  fairly  ache. 
Tish  waited  until  the  wagon  was  out  of  sight;  then 
she  stood  up  and  threw  out  her  arms. 

"At  last! "  she  said.  "Free  to  have  a  lodge  in  some 
vast  wilderness  —  to  think,  to  breathe,  to  expand ! 
Lizzie,  do  you  suppose  if  we  go  back  we  can  get  that 
rabbit?" 

I  looked  at  my  watch.  It  was  one  o'clock  and  there 
was  not  a  berry-bush  in  sight.  The  drive  had  made 
me  hungry,  and  I'd  have  eaten  a  rabbit  that  looked 
like  Mr.  Wiggins  and  called  me  by  name  if  I  'd  had  it. 
But  there  was  absolutely  no  use  going  back  for  the 
one  we'd  seen  on  our  drive. 

Aggie  was  opening  her  suitcase  and  getting  out  her 
costume,  which  was  a  blue  calico  with  short  sleeves 
and  a  shoe-top  skirt. 

"Where '11  I  put  it  on?"  she  asked,  looking  about 
her. 

"Right  here!"  Tish  replied.  "For  goodness  sake, 

119 


TISH 


Aggie,  try  to  discard  false  modesty  and  false  shame. 
We're  here  to  get  close  to  the  great  beating  heart  of 
Nature.  Take  off  your  switch  before  you  do  another 
thing." 

None  of  us  looked  particularly  well,  I  admit,  but 
it  was  wonderful  how  much  more  comfortable  we 
were.  Aggie,  who  is  very  thin,  discarded  a  part  of  her 
figure,  and  each  of  us  parted  with  some  pet  hypocrisy. 
But  I  don't  know  that  I  have  ever  felt  better.  Only  of 
course  we  were  hungry. 

We  packed  our  things  in  the  suitcases  and  hid 
them  in  a  hollow  tree,  and  Tish  suggested  looking  for 
a  spring.  She  said  water  was  always  the  first  re 
quisite  and  fire  the  second. 

"Fire!"  said  Aggie.  "What  for?  We've  nothing 
to  cook." 

Well,  that  was  true  enough,  so  we  sent  Aggie  to 
look  for  water  and  Tish  and  I  made  a  rabbit  snare. 
We  made  a  good  many  snares  and  got  to  be  rather 
quick  at  it.  They  were  all  made  like  this  illustration. 


First  Tish,  with  her  book  open  in  front  of  her,  made 
a  running  noose  out  of  one  of  the  buckskin  thongs. 
Next  we  bent  down  a  sapling  and  tied  the  noose  to  it, 

120 


TISH 


and  last  of  all  we  bound  the  free  part  of  the  thong 
round  a  snag  and  thus  held  the  sapling  down.  The 
idea  is  that  a  rabbit,  bounding  along,  presumably 
with  his  eyes  shut,  will  stick  his  head  through  the 
noose,  kick  the  line  clear  of  the  snag  and  be  drawn 
violently  into  the  air.  Tish  figured  that  by  putting 
up  half  a  dozen  snares  we  'd  have  three  or  four  rab 
bits  at  least  each  day. 

It  was  about  three  when  we  finished,  and  we  drew 
off  to  a  safe  distance  to  watch  the  rabbit  bound  to  his 
doom.  But  no  rabbits  came  along. 

I  was  very  empty  and  rather  faint,  but  Tish  said  she 
had  never  been  able  to  think  so  clearly,  and  that  we 
were  all  overfed  and  stodgy  and  would  be  better  for 
fasting. 

Aggie  came  in  at  three-thirty  with  a  hornet  sting 
and  no  water.  She  said  there  were  no  springs,  but 
that  she  had  found  a  place  where  a  spring  had  existed 
before  the  dry  spell,  and  there  was  a  naked  footprint 
in  the  mud,  quite  fresh!  We  all  went  to  look  at  it,  and 
Tish  was  quite  positive  it  was  not  a  man's  footprint 
at  all,  but  only  a  bear's. 

"A  bear! "  said  Aggie. 

"What  of  it?"  Tish  demanded.  "The  ' Young 
Woodsman '  says  that  no  bear  attacks  a  human  unless 
he  is  hungry,  and  at  this  time  of  the  year  with  the 
woods  full  of  food  — " 

"Humph!"  —  I  could  not  restrain  myself  —  "I 
wish  you  would  show  me  a  little  of  it.  If  no  rabbit 
with  acute  melancholia  comes  along  to  commit  suicide 

121 


TISH  

by  hanging  on  that  gallows  of  yours,  I  think  we'll 
starve  to  death." 

"There  will  be  a  rabbit,"  Tish  said  tersely;  and  we 
started  back  to  the  snare. 

I  was  never  so  astonished  in  my  life.  There  was  a 
rabbit!  It  seems  we  had  struck  a  runway  without 
knowing  it,  although  Tish  said  afterward  that  she 
had  recognized  it  at  once  from  the  rabbit  tracks.  Any 
how,  whether  it  died  of  design  or  curiosity,  our  supper 
was  kicking  at  the  top  of  the  sapling,  and  Tish  pre 
tended  to  be  calm  and  to  have  known  all  along  that 
we'd  get  one.  But  it  was  not  dead. 

We  got  it  down  somehow  or  other  and  I  held  it  by 
the  ears  while  it  kicked  and  scratched.  I  was  hungry 
enough  to  have  eaten  it  alive,  but  Aggie  began  to  cry. 

"You'll  be  murderers,  nothing  else,"  she  wailed. 
"Look  at  his  little  white  tail  and  pitiful  baby  eyes!" 

"Good  gracious,  Aggie,"  Tish  snapped,  "get  a 
knife  and  cut  its  throat  while  I  make  a  fire.  If  it's 
any  help  to  you,  we're  not  going  to  eat  either  its  little 
white  tail  or  its  pitiful  baby  eyes." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Aggie  would  n't  touch  the  rab 
bit  and  I  did  not  care  much  about  it  myself.  I  do  not 
like  to  kill  things.  My  Aunt  Sarah  Mackintosh  once 
killed  a  white  hen  that  lived  twenty  minutes  without 
its  head;  two  weeks  later  she  dreamed  that  that  same 
hen,  without  a  head,  was  sitting  on  the  footboard  of  the 
bed,  and  the  next  day  she  got  word  that  her  cousin's 
husband  in  Sacramento  had  died  of  the  hiccoughs. 

It  ended  with  Tish  giving  me  the  fire-making  ma- 

m 


IT  ENDED   WITH   TISH    STALKING   OFF   INTO   THE   WOODS 

WITH   THE   RABBIT   IN   ONE   HAND  AND   THE 

KNIFE  IN   THE   OTHER 


TISH  

terials  and  stalking  off  into  the  woods  with  the  rabbit 
in  one  hand  and  the  knife  in  the  other. 

Tish  is  nothing  if  not  thorough,  but  she  seemed  to 
me  inconsistent.  She  brought  blankets  and  a  canvas 
tepee  and  sandals  and  an  aluminum  kettle,  but  she 
disdained  matches.  I  rubbed  with  that  silly  drill  and 
a  sort  of  bow  arrangement  until  my  wrists  ached, 
but  I  did  not  get  even  a  spark  of  fire.  When  Tish 
came  back  with  the  rabbit  there  was  no  fire,  and  Aggie 
had  taken  out  her  watch  crystal  and  was  holding  it  in 
the  sun  over  a  pile  of  leaves. 

Tish  got  out  the  "Young  Woodsman"  from  the 
suitcase.  It  seems  I  had  followed  cuts  I  and  II,  but 
had  neglected  cut  III,  which  is:  Hold  the  left  wrist 
against  the  left  shin,  and  the  left  foot  on  the  fireblock. 
I  had  got  my  feet  mixed  and  was  trying  to  hold  my 
left  wrist  against  my  right  shin,  which  is  exceedingly 
difficult.  Tish  got  a  fire  in  fourteen  minutes  and 
thirty-one  seconds  by  Aggie's  watch,  and  had  to  wear 
a  bandage  on  her  hand  for  a  week. 

But  we  had  a  fire.  We  cooked  the  rabbit,  which 
proved  to  be  much  older  than  Aggie  had  thought, 
and  ate  what  we  could.  Personally  I  am  not  fond  of 
rabbit,  and  our  enjoyment  was  rather  chastened  by 
the  fear  that  some  mushrooms  Tish  had  collected  and 
added  to  the  stew  were  toadstools  incognito.  To  make 
things  worse,  Aggie  saw  some  goldenrod  near  by  and 
began  to  sneeze. 

It  was  after  five  o'clock,  but  it  seemed  wisest  to 
move  on  toward  the  lake. 

123 


TISH 


"Even  if  we  don't  make  it,"  said  Tish,  "we'll  be  on 
our  way,  and  while  that  bear  is  likely  harmless  we 
need  n't  thrust  temptation  in  his  way." 

We  carried  the  fire  with  us  in  the  kettle  and  we  took 
turns  with  the  tepee,  which  was  heavy.  Our  suitcases 
with  our  city  clothes  in  them  we  hid  in  a  hollow  tree, 
and  one  after  the  other,  with  Aggie  last,  we  started  on. 

The  trail,  which  was  a  sort  of  wide  wagon  road  at 
first,  became  a  footpath ;  as  we  went  on  even  that  dis 
appeared  at  times  under  fallen  leaves.  Once  we  lost 
it  entirely,  and  Aggie,  falling  over  a  hidden  root, 
spilled  the  fire.  She  became  exceedingly  disagreeable 
about  that  time,  said  she  was  sure  Tish's  mushrooms 
were  toadstools  because  she  felt  very  queer,  and  sud 
denly  gave  a  yell  and  said  she  had  seen  something 
moving  in  the  bushes. 

We  all  looked,  and  the  bushes  were  moving. 


Ill 

IT  was  dusk  by  that  time  and  the  path  was  only  a 
thread  between  masses  of  undergrowth.  Tish  said  if 
it  was  the  bear  he  would  be  afraid  of  the  fire,  so  we 
put  dry  leaves  in  the  kettle  and  made  quite  a  blaze. 
By  its  light  Tish  read  that  bears  in  the  summer  are 
full  fed  and  really  frolicsome  and  that  they  are  awful 
cowards.  We  felt  quite  cheered  and  brave,  and  Tish 
said  if  he  came  near  to  throw  the  fire  kettle  at  him 
and  he'd  probably  die  of  fright. 

It  was  too  late  to  put  up  the  tepee,  so  we  found  a 
clearing  near  the  path  and  decided  to  spend  the  night 
there.  Aggie  still  watched  the  bushes  and  wanted  to 
spend  the  night  in  a  tree;  but  Tish's  calmness  was  a 
reproach  to  us  both,  and  after  we  had  emptied  the 
kettle  and  made  quite  a  fire  to  keep  off  animals,  we 
unrolled  our  blankets  and  prepared  for  sleep.  I  could 
have  slept  anywhere,  although  I  was  still  rather 
hungry.  My  last  view  was  of  Tish  in  the  firelight 
grimly  bending  down  a  sapling  and  fastening  a  rab 
bit  snare  to  it. 

During  the  night  I  was  wakened  by  somebody 
clutching  my  arm.  It  was  Aggie  who  lay  next  to  me. 
When  I  raised  my  head  she  pointed  off  into  the  woods 
to  our  left.  At  a  height  of  perhaps  four  feet  from  the 
ground  a  ghastly  red  glow  was  moving  rapidly  away 


TISH 


from  us.  It  was  not  a  torch;  it  was  more  a  radiance, 
and  it  moved  not  evenly,  but  jerkily.  I  could  feel  the 
very  hair  rising  on  my  head  and  it  was  all  I  could  do 
to  call  Tish.  When  we  had  roused  her,  however,  the 
glow  had  faded  entirely  and  she  said  we  had  had  a 
nightmare. 

The  snare  the  next  morning  contained  a  skunk,  and 
we  moved  on  as  quickly  as  possible,  without  attempt 
ing  to  secure  the  thong,  of  which  we  had  several.  We 
gathered  some  puffballs  to  soak  for  breakfast  and  in  a 
clearing  I  found  some  blackberry  bushes.  We  were 
very  cheerful  that  morning,  for  if  we  could  capture 
rabbits  and  skunks,  we  were  sure  of  other  things,  also, 
and  soon  we  would  be  able  to  add  fish  to  our  menu. 
True,  we  had  not  had  much  time  to  commune  with 
our  souls,  and  Aggie's  arms  were  so  sunburned  that 
she  could  not  bend  them  at  the  elbows.  But,  as  Tish 
said,  we  had  already  proved  our  contention  that  we 
could  get  along  without  men  or  houses  or  things. 
Things,  she  said,  were  the  curse  of  modern  life;  we 
filled  our  lives  with  things  instead  of  thoughts. 

It  was  when  we  were  ready  to  cook  the  puffballs 
that  we  missed  the  kettle!  Tish  was  very  angry;  she 
said  it  was  evident  that  the  bear  was  mischievous  and 
that  all  bears  were  thieves.  (See  the  "  Young  Woods 
man.")  But  I  recalled  the  glow  of  the  night  before, 
and  more  than  once  I  caught  Aggie's  eyes  on  me, 
filled  with  consternation.  For  we  had  seen  that  kettle 
leaving  the  camp  with  some  of  our  fire  in  it,  and  bears 
are  afraid  of  fire! 

126 


TISH 


We  reached  the  lake  at  noon  and  it  seemed  as  if  we 
might  soon  have  time  to  sit  down  and  rest.  But  there 
was  a  great  deal  to  do.  Aggie  was  of  no  assistance  on 
account  of  her  arms,  so  Tish  and  I  put  up  the  tent. 
The  "Young  Woodsman"  said  it  was  easy.  First  you 
tied  three  long  poles  together  near  the  top  and  stood 
them  up  so  they  made  a  sort  of  triangle.  Then  you 
cut  about  a  dozen  and  filled  in  between  the  three. 
That  looked  easy,  but  it  took  an  afternoon,  and  our 
first  three  looked  like  this  first  cut. 


AS  THE  FIRST  THREE 
LOOKED 


AS  THEY  SHOULD  HAVE 
LOOKED 


We  had  caught  a  rabbit  by  noon,  and  Aggie  being 
unfit  for  other  work,  and  the  kettle  being  gone,  Tish 
set  her  to  roasting  it.  It  was  not  very  good,  but  we 
ate  some,  being  ravenous.  The  method  was  simplicity 
itself  —  two  forked  sticks  in  the  ground,  one  across 
to  hang  the  rabbit  to  and  a  fire  beneath.  It  tasted 
rather  smoky. 

In  the  afternoon  we  finished  putting  up  the  tepee, 
and  Tish  made  a  fishhook  out  of  a  hairpin  and  tied  it 
to  a  strong  creeper  I  had  found.  But  we  caught  no 
fish.  We  had  more  rabbit  for  supper,  with  some  puff- 

127 


TISH  

balls  smoked  and  a  few  huckleberries.  But  by  that 
time  the  very  sight  of  a  rabbit  sickened  me,  and  Aggie 
began  to  talk  about  broiled  beefsteak  and  fried  spring 
chicken. 

We  had  seen  no  sign  of  the  bear,  or  whatever  it  was, 
all  day,  and  it  seemed  likely  we  were  not  to  be  again 
disturbed.  But  a  most  mysterious  thing  occurred 
that  very  night. 

As  I  have  said,  we  had  caught  no  fish.  The  lake 
was  full  of  them.  We  sat  on  a  bank  that  evening  and 
watched  them  playing  leapfrog,  and  talked  about 
frying  them  on  red-hot  stones,  but  nothing  came  near 
the  hairpin.  At  last  Tish  made  a  suggestion. 

"We  need  worms,"  she  said.  "A  grasshopper  loses 
all  his  spirit  after  he's  been  immersed  for  an  hour,  but 
a  worm  will  keep  on  wriggling  and  attracting  atten 
tion  for  half  a  day." 

"I  wanted  to  bring  a  spade,"  said  I. 

But  Tish  had  read  of  a  scheme  for  getting  worms 
that  she  said  the  game  warden  of  some  place  or  other 
had  guaranteed  officially. 

"You  stick  a  piece  of  wood  about  two  feet  into  the 
ground  in  a  likely  spot,"  she  said,  "and  rub  a  rough 
piece  of  bark  or  plank  across  the  top.  This  man  claims, 
and  it  sounds  reasonable,  that  the  worms  think  it  is 
raining  and  come  up  for  water.  All.  you  have  to  do  is 
to  gather  them  up." 

Tish  found  a  pole  for  the  purpose  on  the  beach  and 
set  to  work,  while  Aggie  and  I  prepared  several  hooks 
and  lines.  The  fish  were  jumping  busily,  and  it  seemed 

128 


TISH  

likely  we  should  have  more  than  we  could  do  to  haul 
them  in. 

The  experiment,  however,  failed  entirely,  for  not  a 
single  worm  appeared.  Tish  laid  it  to  the  fact  that 
it  was  very  late  and  that  the  worms  were  probably 
settled  down  for  the  night.  It  may  have  been  that,  or 
it  may  have  been  the  wrong  kind  of  wood. 

The  mysterious  happening  was  this :  We  rose  quite 
early  because  the  tepee  did  not  seem  to  be  well  an 
chored  and  fell  down  on  us  at  daybreak.  Tish  went 
down  to  the  beach  to  examine  the  lines  that  had  been 
out  all  night,  and  found  nothing.  She  was  returning 
rather  dispirited  to  tell  us  that  it  would  be  rabbit 
again  for  breakfast,  when  she  saw  lying  on  a  flat  stone 
half  a  dozen  beautiful  fish,  one  or  two  still  gasping,  in 
our  lost  kettle! 

Tish  said  she  stood  there,  opening  and  shutting  her 
mouth  like  the  fish.  Then  she  gave  a  whoop  and  we 
came  running.  At  first  we  thought  they  might  have 
been  jumping  and  leaped  out  on  to  the  beach  by  ac 
cident,  but,  as  Tish  said,  they  would  hardly  have 
landed  all  together  and  into  a  kettle  that  had  been 
lost  for  two  nights  and  a  day.  The  queer  thing  was 
that  they  had  not  been  caught  with  a  hook  at  all. 
They  had  n't  a  mark  on  them. 

We  were  so  hungry  that  we  ate  every  one  of  them 
for  breakfast.  It  was  only  when  we  had  eaten,  and 
were  sitting  gorged  and  not  caring  whether  the  tent 
was  set  up  again  or  not,  that  we  fell  to  wondering 
about  the  fish.  Tish  fancied  it  might  have  been  the 

129 


TISH 


driver  of  the  spring  wagon,  but  decided  he'd  have 
sold  us  the  fish  at  thirty  cents  a  pound  live  weight. 

All  day  long  we  watched  for  a  sign  of  our  benefactor, 
but  we  saw  nothing.  Tish  set  up  more  rabbit  snares; 
not  that  she  wanted  rabbits,  but  it  had  become  a 
mania  with  her,  and  there  were  so  many  of  them  that 
as  they  grew  accustomed  to  us  they  sat  round  our 
camp  in  a  ring  and  criticized  our  housekeeping.  She 
thought  if  she  got  a  good  many  skins  she  could  have  a 
fur  robe  made  for  her  automobile.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
she  found  another  use  for  them. 

It  was  that  night,  then,  that  we  were  sitting  round 
the  camp-fire  on  stones  that  we  had  brought  up 
from  the  beach.  We  had  seen  nothing  more  of  the 
bear,  and  if  we  had  been  asked  we  should  have  said 
that  the  nearest  human  being  was  twenty-five  miles 
away. 

Suddenly  a  voice  came  out  of  the  woods  just  be 
hind  us,  a  man's  voice. 

"Please  don't  be  alarmed,"  said  the  voice.  "But 
may  I  have  a  little  of  your  fire?  Mine  has  gone  out 
again." 

"G-g-g-good  gracious!"  Said  Aggie.  "T— Tish, 
get  your  revolver!" 

This  was  for  effect.  Tish  had  no  revolver. 

All  of  us  had  turned  and  were  staring  into  the  woods 
behind,  but  we  could  see  no  one.  After  Aggie's  speech 
about  the  revolver  it  was  some  time  before  the  voice 
spoke  again. 

"Never  mind,  Aggie,"  Tish  observed,  very  loud. 

130 


TISH 

"The  revolver  is  here  and  loaded  —  as  nice  a  little 
thirty-six  as  any  one  needs  here  in  the  woods." 

She  said  afterward  that  she  knew  all  the  time  there 
was  no  thirty-six  caliber  revolver,  but  in  the  excite 
ment  she  got  it  mixed  with  her  bust  measure.  Having 
replied  to  Aggie,  Tish  then  turned  in  the  direction  of 
the  voice. 

"Don't  skulk  back  there,"  she  called.  "Come  out 
where  we  can  see  you.  If  you  look  reliable,  we  '11  give 
you  some  fire,  of  course." 

There  was  another  pause,  as  if  the  stranger  were 
hesitating.  Then:  — 

"I  think  I'd  better  not,"  he  said  with  reluctance 
in  his  voice.  "Can't  you  toss  a  brand  this  way?" 

By  that  time  we  had  grown  accustomed  to  the  dark 
ness,  and  I  thought  I  could  see  in  the  shadow  of  a  tree 
a  lightish  figure.  Aggie  saw  it  at  the  same  instant  and 
clutched  my  arm. 

"Lizzie!"  she  gasped. 

It  was  at  that  moment  that  Tish  tossed  the  brand. 
It  fell  far  short,  but  her  movement  caught  the  stranger 
unawares.  He  ducked  behind  the  tree,  but  the  flare 
of  light  had  caught  him.  With  the  exception  of  what 
looked  like  a  pair  of  bathing-trunks  he  was  as  bare  as 
my  hand! 

There  was  a  sort  of  astonished  silence.  Then  the 
voice  called  out:  — 

"Why  in  the  world  did  n't  you  warn  me?"  it  said, 
aggrieved.  "I  did  n't  know  you  were  going  to  throw 
the  blamed  thing." 

131 


TISH 


We  had  all  turned  our  backs  at  once  and  Tish's  face 
was  awful. 

"Take  it  and  go,"  she  said,  without  turning. 
"Take  it  and  go." 

From  the  crackling  of  leaves  and  twigs  we  judged 
that  he  had  come  out  and  got  the  brand,  and  when  he 
spoke  again  it  was  from  farther  back  in  the  woods. 

"You  know,"  he  said,  "I  don't  like  this  any  more 
than  you  do.  I  Ve  got  forty-two  mosquito  bites  on  my 
left  arm." 

He  waited,  as  if  for  a  reply;  but  getting  none  he 
evidently  retreated.  The  sound  of  rustling  leaves  and 
crackling  twigs  grew  fainter,  fainter  still,  died  away 
altogether.  We  turned  then  with  one  accord  and 
gazed  through  the  dark  arches  of  the  forest.  A  glow 
ing  star  was  retreating  there  —  a  smouldering  fire 
that  seemed  to  move  slowly  and  with  an  appearance 
of  dejection. 

It  was  the  second  time  Aggie  and  I  had  seen  fire 
thus  carried  through  the  wood;  but  whereas  about 
the  kettle  there  had  been  a  glow  and  radiance  that 
was  almost  triumphant,  the  brand  we  now  watched 
seemed  smouldering,  dejected,  ashamed.  Even  Tish 
felt  it. 

"The  wretch!"  she  exclaimed.  "Daring  to  come 
here  like  that!  No  wonder  he 's  ashamed." 

But  Aggie,  who  is  very  romantic,  sat  staring  after 
the  distant  torch. 

"Mr.  Wiggins  suffered  so  from  mosquitoes,"  she 
said  softly. 


IV 

THE  next  morning  we  found  more  fish  awaiting  us, 
and  on  the  smooth  sand  of  the  beach  was  a  message 
written  with  a  stick:  — 

If  you  will  leave  a  wire  hairpin  or  two  on  this  stone  I 
can  get  bigger  fish.  What  do  you  mean  to  do  with  all  those 
rabbit  skins?  (Signed)  P. 

Tish  was  touched  by  the  fish,  I  think.  She  smoothed 
off  the  sand  carefully  and  wrote  a  reply :  — 

Here  are  the  hairpins.  Thank  you.  Do  you  want  the 
rabbit  skins?  L.  C. 

All  day  we  were  in  a  state  of  expectancy.  The 
mosquitoes  were  very  bad,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 

excitement  of  the  P person  I  should  have  given 

up  and  gone  home.  I  wanted  mashed  potatoes  and 
lima  beans  with  butter  dressing,  and  a  cup  of  hot  tea, 
and  muffins,  and  ice  —  in  fact,  I  cannot  think  of  any 
thing  I  did  not  want,  except  rabbits  and  fish  and  puff- 
balls  and  such  blackberries  as  the  birds  did  not  fancy. 
Although  we  were  well  enough  —  almost  too  well  — 
the  better  I  felt  the  hungrier  I  got. 

Tish  thought  the  time  had  now  come  to  rest  and 

133 


TISH 


invite  our  souls.  She  set  the  example  that  day  by 
going  out  on  a  flat  rock  in  the  lake  and  preparing  to 
think  all  the  things  she'd  been  waiting  most  of  her 
life  to  consider. 

"I  am  ready  to  form  my  own  opinions  about  some 
things,"  she  said.  "I  realize  now  that  all  my  life  the 
newspapers  and  stupid  people  and  books  have  formed 
my  opinions.  Now  I'm  going  to  think  along  my  own 
lines.  Is  there  another  life  after  this?  Do  I  really  de 
sire  the  suffrage?  Why  am  I  a  Baptist?" 

Aggie  said  she  would  like  to  invite  her  soul  that  day 
also,  not  to  form  any  opinions,  —  Tish  always  does 
that  for  her,  —  but  she  had  to  get  some  clothes  in 
September  and  she  might  as  well  think  them  out. 

So  it  happened  that  I  was  alone  when  I  met  the 
P person's  young  woman. 

I  had  intended  to  wander  only  a  short  way  along 
the  trail,  but  after  I  had  gone  a  mile  or  two  it  occurred 
to  me  as  likely  that  the  spring- wagon  driver  would 
come  back  that  way  before  long  out  of  curiosity,  and 
I  thought  I  might  leave  a  message  for  him  to  bring 
out  some  fresh  eggs  and  leave  them  there.  I  could  tell 
Tish  I  had  found  a  nest,  or  perhaps,  since  that  would 
be  lying,  I  could  put  them  in  a  nest  and  let  her  find 
them.  I'd  have  ordered  tea,  too,  if  I  could  have 
thought  of  any  way  to  account  for  it. 

"I'm  going  to  do  some  meditating  myself  to-day," 
I  remarked,  "but  I  think  better  when  I 'm  moving.  If 
I  don't  come  back  in  an  hour  or  so  don't  imagine  I've 
been  kidnaped." 

134 


TISH 


Tish  turned  on  her  stone  and  looked  at  me. 

"You  will  not  be  kidnaped,"  she  said  shortly.  "I 
cannot  imagine  any  one  safer  than  you  are  in  that 
costume." 

Well,  I  made  my  way  along  the  trail  as  rapidly  as  I 
could.  It  was  twenty  miles  there  and  back  and  I've 
seen  the  day  when  two  city  blocks  would  send  me 
home  to  soak  my  feet  in  hot  water.  But  the  sandals 
were  easy  to  walk  in  and  my  calico  skirt  was  short  and 
light. 

I  had  no  paper  to  write  my  message  on,  of  course, 
but  on  the  way  I  gathered  a  large  white  fungus  and  I 
scraped  a  note  on  it  with  a  pin.  With  the  fungus  under 
my  arm  I  walked  briskly  along,  planning  an  omelet 
with  the  eggs,  if  we  got  any,  and  gathering  mush 
rooms  here  and  there.  It  was  the  mushrooms  that  led 
me  to  the  discovery  of  a  camping-place  that  was  pre 
historic  in  its  primitiveness  —  a  clearing,  surrounded 
by  low  bushes,  and  in  the  center  a  fireplace  of  stones 
with  a  fire  smouldering.  At  one  side  a  heap  of  leaves 
and  small  twigs  for  a  bed,  a  stump  for  a  seat,  and 
lying  on  top  of  it  a  sort  of  stone  axe,  made  by  insert 
ing  a  sharp  stone  into  the  cleft  of  a  sapling  and  tying 
it  into  place  with  a  wild-grape  tendril.  Pegged  ouc  on 
the  ground  to  cure  was  a  rabbit  skin,  indifferently 
scraped.  It  made  our  aluminum  kettle  and  canvas 
tepee  look  like  a  marble-vestibuled  apartment  on 
Riverside  Drive. 

The  whole  thing  looked  pitiful,  hungry.  I  thought 
of  Tish  sitting  on  a  stone  inviting  her  soul,  while 

135 


TISH 


rabbits  came  from  miles  round  to  stick  their  heads 
through  our  nooses  and  hang  themselves  for  our  din 
ner;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  we  should  share  our 
plenty.  I  thought  it  probable  that  the  gentleman  of 
the  woods  lived  here,  and  from  the  appearance  of  the 
place  he  carried  all  his  possessions  with  him  when  he 
wore  his  bathing-trunks.  If  I  had  been  in  any  doubt, 
the  sight  of  Aggie's  wire  hairpin,  sharpened  and  bent 
into  a  serviceable  fishhook,  decided  me.  I  scratched  a 
message  for  him  on  another  fungus  and  left  it:  — 

If  you  need  anything  come  to  the  Indian  tepee  at  the 
lake.  We  have  no  clothing  to  spare,  but  are  always  glad  to 
help  in  time  of  trouble. 

(Signed)    ONE  OF  THE  SIMPLE  LIFERS. 

I  went  on  after  that  and  about  noon  reached  our 
point  of  exodus  from  the  wagon.  I  was  tired  and  hot 
and  I  kept  thinking  of  my  little  dining-room  at  home, 
with  the  electric  fan  going,  and  iced  cantaloupe,  and 
nobody  worrying  about  her  soul  or  thinking  her  own 
thoughts,  and  no  rabbits. 

Our  suitcases  were  safe  enough  in  the  hollow  tree, 
and  I  thought  the  spring  wagon  had  been  back  al 
ready,  for  there  were  fresh  tracks.  This  discouraged 
me  and  I  sat  down  on  a  log  to  rest.  It  was  then  that 
I  heard  the  girl  crying. 

She  was  crying  softly,  but  in  the  woods  sounds 
travel.  I  found  her  on  her  face  on  the  pine  needles 
about  twenty  yards  away,  wailing  her  heart  out  into 

136 


TISH  

a  pink  automobile  veil,  and  she  was  so  absorbed  in  her 
misery  that  I  had  to  stoop  and  touch  her  before  she 
looked  up. 

"Don't  cry,"  I  said.  "If  you  are  lost,  I  can  direct 
you  to  a  settlement." 

She  looked  up  at  me,  and  from  being  very  red  and 
suffused  she  went  quite  pale.  It  seems  that  with  my 
bare  legs  and  sandals  and  my  hair  down,  which  was 
Tish's  idea  for  making  it  come  in  thick  and  not  gray, 
and  what  with  my  being  sunburned  and  stained  with 
berries,  she  thought  I  was  a  wild  woman.  I  realized 
what  was  wrong. 

"  Don't  be  alarmed,"  I  said  somewhat  grimly.  "  I  'm 
rational  enough;  if  I  hop  about  instead  of  walking, 
it's  because  I'm  the  tomb  of  more  rabbits  than  I  care 
to  remember,  but  aside  from  that  I'm  all  right.  Are 
you  lost?" 

She  sat  up,  still  staring,  and  wiped  her  eyes. 

"  No.  I  have  a  machine  over  there  among  the  trees. 
Are  there — are  there  plenty  of  rabbits  in  the  woods?  " 

"Thousands."  She  was  a  pretty  little  thing,  very 
young,  and  dressed  in  a  white  motor  coat  with  white 
shoes  and  hat. 

"And  — -  and  berries?" 

"There  aren't  many  berries,"  I  admitted.  "The 
birds  eat  'em.  We  get  the  ones  they  don't  fancy." 

Now  I  did  n't  think  for  a  moment  that  she  was 
worried  about  my  diet,  but  she  was  worried  about  the 
food  supply  in  the  woods,  that  was  sure.  So  I  sat 
down  on  a  stump  and  told  her  about  puffballs,  and 

137 


TISH  

what  Tish  had  read  about  ants  being  edible  but  acid, 
and  that  wood  mice,  roasted  and  not  cooked  too  dry, 
were  good  food,  but  that  Aggie  had  made  us  liberate 
the  only  ones  we  had  caught,  because  a  man  she  was 
once  engaged  to  used  to  carry  a  pet  mouse  in  his 
pocket. 

Nothing  had  really  appealed  to  her  until  I  men 
tioned  Mr.  Wiggins.  Then  unexpectedly  she  began 
to  cry  again.  And  after  that  I  got  the  whole  story. 

It  seems  she  was  in  love  with  a  young  man  who  was 
everything  a  young  man  ought  to  be  and  had  money 
as  well.  But  the  money  was  the  barrier  really,  for  the 
girl's  father  wouldn't  believe  that  a  youth  who  played 
polo,  and  did  not  have  to  work  for  a  living,  and  Ie4 
cotillons,  and  paid  calls  in  the  afternoon  could  have 
really  good  red  blood  in  him.  He  had  a  man  in  view 
for  her,  she  said,  one  who  had  made  his  money  him 
self,  and  had  to  have  his  valet  lay  out  his  clothes  for 
fear  he'd  make  a  mistake.  Once  the  valet  had  to  go 
to  have  a  tooth  pulled  and  the  man  had  to  decline  a 
dinner. 

"Father  said,"  finished  the  little  girl  tearfully, 
"that  if  Percy  —  that's  his  name,  and  it  counted 
against  him  too  —  that  if  Percy  was  a  real  man  he'd 
do  something.  And  then  he  hap-happened  on  a  book 
of  my  small  brother's,  telling  how  people  used  to  live 
in  the  woods,  and  kill  their  own  food  and  make  their 
own  fire  — " 

"The  'Young  Woodsman,'  of  course,"  I  put  in. 

"And  how  the  strong  survived,  but  the  weak  suc- 

138 


TISH  

succumbed,  and  he  said  if  Percy  was  a  man,  and  not 
a  t-tailor's  dummy,  he'd  go  out  in  the  woods,  j-just 
primitive  man,  without  anything  but  a  pair  of  bath 
ing-trunks,  and  keep  himself  alive  for  a  month.  If 
he  s-stood  the  test  father  was  willing  to  forget  the 
*  Percy.'  He  said  that  he  knew  Mr.  Willoughby  could 
do  it  —  that's  the  other  man  —  and  that  he'd  come 
out  at  the  end  of  the  time  with  a  deed  for  the  forest 
and  mortgages  on  all  the  surrounding  camps." 

"And  Percy  agreed?" 

"He  did  n't  want  to.  He  said  it  took  mentality  and 
physical  endurance  as  well  as  some  courage  to  play 
polo.  Father  said  it  did  —  on  the  part  of  the  pony. 
Then  s-some  of  the  men  heard  of  it,  and  there  were 
bets  on  it  —  ten  to  one  he  would  n't  do  it  and  twenty 
to  one  he  could  n't  do  it.  So  Percy  decided  to  try. 
Father  was  so  afraid  that  some  of  the  campers  and 
guides  would  help  him  that  he  had  notices  sent  out 
at  Mr.  Willoughby's  suggestion  offering  a  reward  if 
Percy  could  be  shown  to  have  asked  any  assistance. 
Oh,  I  know  he's  sick  in  there  somewhere,  or  starving 
or  — dead!" 

I  had  had  a  great  light  break  over  me,  and  now  I 
stooped  and  patted  the  girl  on  the  shoulder. 

"Dead!  Certainly  not,"  I  said.  "I  saw  him  last 
night." 

"Saw  him!" 

"Well,  not  exactly  saw  him  —  there  was  n't  much 
light.  But  he 's  alive  and  well,  and  —  do  you  really 
want  him  to  win?" 

139 


TISH 


"Do  I?"  She  sat  up  with  shining  eyes.  "I  don't 
care  whether  he  owns  anything  in  the  world  but  the 
— the  trunks.  If  I  didn't  think  I'd  add  to  his  troubles 
I'd  go  into  the  woods  this  minute  and  find  him  and 
suffer  with  him." 

"You'd  have  to  be  married  to  him  first,"  I  ob 
jected,  rather  startled. 

But  she  looked  at  me  with  her  cheeks  as  red  as 
strawberries.  "Why?"  she  demanded.  "Father's  so 
crazy  about  primitive  man  —  did  primitive  man  take 
his  woman  to  church  to  be  married,  with  eight  brides 
maids  and  a  reception  after  the  ceremony?  Of  course 
not.  He  grabbed  her  and  carried  her  off." 

"Good  Heavens!  You're  not  in  earnest?" 

"I  think  I  am,"  she  said  slowly.  "I'd  rather  live 
in  the  woods  with  Percy  and  no  ceremony  than  live 
without  him  anywhere  in  the  world.  And  I'll  bet 
primitive  man  would  have  been  wiped  off  the  earth  if 
he  had  n't  had  primitive  woman  to  add  her  wits  to 
his  strength.  If  Percy  only  had  a  woman  to  help 
him!" 

"My  dear,"  I  said  solemnly,  "he  has!  He  has,  not 
one,  but  three!" 

It  took  me  some  time  to  explain  that  Percy  was  not 
supporting  a  harem  in  the  Maine  woods;  but  when  at 
last  she  got  my  idea  and  that  the  other  two  classed 
with  me  in  beauty  and  attractiveness,  she  was  over 
joyed. 

"But  Percy  promised  not  to  ask  for  help,"  she  said 
suddenly. 

140 


TISH 


"He  need  n't.  My  dear,  go  away  and  stop  worry 
ing  about  Percy  —  he's  all  right.  When  is  the  time 
up?" 

"In  three  weeks." 

"I  suppose  father  and  the  Willoughby  person  will 
come  to  meet  him?" 

"Yes,  and  all  the  fellows  from  the  club  who  have 
put  money  up  on  him.  We  're  going  to  motor  over  and 
father's  bringing  the  physical  director  of  the  athletic 
club.  He's  not  only  got  to  survive,  but  he's  got  to  be 
hi  good  condition." 

"He'll  be  in  good  condition,"  I  said  grimly.  "Does 
he  drink  and  smoke?" 

"A  little,  not  too  much.  Oh,  yes,  I  had  forgotten!" 
She  opened  up  a  little  gold  cigarette  case,  which  she 
took  from  her  pocket,  and  extracted  a  handful  of 
cigarettes. 

"If  you  are  going  to  see  him,"  she  said,  "you  might 
put  them  where  he'll  find  them?" 

"Certainly  not." 

"But  that's  not  giving  them  to  him." 

"My  dear  child,"  I  said  sternly,  "Percy  is  going  to 
come  out  of  these  woods  so  well  and  strong  that  he 
may  not  have  to  work,  but  he'll  want  to.  And  he'll 
not  smoke  anything  stronger  than  corn-silk,  if  we're 
to  take  charge  of  this  thing." 

She  understood  quickly  enough  and  I  must  say  she 
was  grateful.  She  was  almost  radiant  with  joy  when  I 
told  her  how  capable  Tish  was,  and  that  she  was  sure 
to  be  interested,  and  about  Aggie's  hay  fever  and  Mr. 

141 


TISH  

Wiggins  and  the  rabbit  snares.  She  leaned  over  and 
kissed  me  impulsively. 

"You  dear  old  thing!"  she  cried.  "I  know  you'll 
look  after  him  and  make  him  comfortable  and  —  how 
old  is  Miss  Letitia?" 

"Something  over  fifty  and  Aggie  Pilkingtori's 
about  the  same,  although  she  won't  admit  it." 

She  kissed  me  again  at  that,  and  after  looking  at 
her  wrist  watch  she  jumped  to  her  feet. 

"Heavens!"  she  said.  "It's  four  o'clock  and  my 
engine  has  been  running  all  this  time!" 

She  got  a  smart  little  car  from  somewhere  up  the 
road,  and  the  last  I  saw  of  her  she  was  smiling  back 
over  her  shoulder  and  the  car  running  on  the  edge  of  a 
ditch. 

"You  are  three  darlings!"  she  called  back.  "And 
tell  Percy  I  love  him  —  love  him  —  love  him!" 

I  thought  I'd  never  get  back  to  the  lake.  I  was 
tired  to  begin  with,  and  after  I'd  gone  about  four 
miles  and  was  limping  with  a  splinter  in  my  heel  and 
no  needle  to  get  it  out  with,  I  found  I  still  had  the 
fungus  message  to  the  spring- wagon  person  under  my 
arm. 

It  was  dark  when  I  got  back  and  my  nerves  were 
rather  unstrung,  what  with  wandering  from  the  path 
here  and  there,  with  nothing  to  eat  since  morning, 
and  running  into  a  tree  and  taking  the  skin  off  my 
nose.  When  I  limped  into  camp  at  last,  I  did  n't  care 
whether  Percy  lived  or  died,  and  the  thought  of  rabbit 
stew  made  my  mouth  water. 

142 


TISH 

It  was  not  rabbit,  however.  Aggie  was  sitting  alone 
by  the  fire,  waving  a  brand  round  her  head  to  keep  off 
mosquitoes,  and  in  front  of  her,  dangling  from  the 
spit,  were  a  dozen  pairs  of  frogs'  legs  in  a  row. 

I  ate  six  pairs  without  a  question  and  then  I  asked 
for  Tish. 

"Catching  frogs,"  said  Aggie  laconically,  and 
flourished  the  brand. 

"Where?" 

"Pulling  them  off  the  trees.  Where  do  you  think 
she  gets  them?"  she  demanded. 

A  large  mosquito  broke  through  her  guard  at  that 
moment  and  she  flung  the  torch  angrily  at  the  fire. 

"  I  'm  eaten  alive ! "  she  snapped.  "  I  wish  to  Heaven 
I  had  smallpox  or  something  they  could  all  take  and 
go  away  and  die." 

The  frogs'  legs  were  heavenly,  although  in  a  restau 
rant  I  loathe  the  things.  I  left  Aggie  wondering  if  her 
hay  fever  was  n't  contagious  through  the  blood  and 
hoping  the  mosquitoes  would  get  it  and  sneeze  them 
selves  to  death,  and  went  to  find  Tish. 

She  was  standing  in  the  margin  of  the  lake  up  to  her 
knees  in  water,  with  a  blazing  torch  in  one  hand  and 
one  of  our  tent  poles  in  the  other.  Tied  to  the  end 
of  the  pole  was  a  grapevine  line,  and  a  fishing-hook 
made  of  a  hairpin  was  attached  to  it. 

Her  method,  which  it  seems  she'd  heard  from 
Charlie  Sands  and  which  was  not  in  the  "Young 
Woodsman,"  was  simple  and  effectual. 

"Don't  move,"  she  said  tensely  when  she  heard 

143 


TISH  

me  on  the  bank.  "There  's  one  here  as  big  as  a 
chicken!" 

She  struck  the  flare  forward,  and  I  could  see  the 
frog  looking  at  it  and  not  blinking.  He  sat  in  a  sort  of 
heavenly  ecstasy,  like  a  dog  about  to  bay  at  the  moon, 
while  the  hook  dangled  just  at  his  throat. 

"I'm  half -ashamed  to  do  it,  Lizzie,  it's  so  easy," 
she  said  calmly,  still  tickling  the  thing's  throat  with 
the  hook.  "Grab  him  as  I  throw  him  at  you.  They 
slip  off  sometimes." 

The  next  instant  she  jerked  the  hook  up  and  caught 
the  creature  by  the  lower  jaw.  It  was  the  neatest 
thing  I  have  ever  seen.  Tish  came  wading  over  to 
where  I  stood  and  examined  the  frog. 

"If  we  only  had  some  Tar  tare  sauce!"  she  said 
regretfully.  "I  wish  you'd  look  at  my  ankle,  Lizzie. 
There's  something  stuck  to  it." 

The  something  was  a  leech.  It  refused  to  come  off, 
and  so  she  carried  both  frog  and  leech  back  to  the 
camp.  Aggie  said  on  no  account  to  pull  a  leech  off,  it 
left  its  teeth  in  and  the  teeth  went  on  burrowing,  or 
laid  eggs  or  something.  One  must  leave  it  on  until  it 
was  full  and  round  and  could  n't  hold  any  more,  and 
then  it  dropped  off. 

So  all  night  Tish  kept  getting  up  and  going  to  the 
fire  to  see  if  it  was  swelling.  But  toward  morning  she 
fell  asleep  and  it  dropped  off,  and  we  had  a  terrible 
feeling  that  it  was  somewhere  in  our  blankets. 

But  the  leech  caused  less  excitement  that  evening 
than  my  story  of  Percy  and  the  little  girl  in  the  white 

144 


TISH 


coat.  Aggie  was  entranced,  and  Tish  had  made  Percy 
a  suit  of  rabbit  skin  with  a  cap  to  match  and  outlined 
a  set  of  exercises  to  increase  his  chest  measure  before 
I  was  half  through  with  my  story. 

But  Percy  did  not  appear,  although  we  had  an  idea 
that  he  was  not  far  off  in  the  woods.  We  could  hear  a 
crackling  in  the  undergrowth,  but  when  we  called 
there  was  no  reply.  Tish  was  eating  a  frog's  leg  when 
the  idea  came  to  her. 

"He'll  never  come  out  under  ordinary  circum 
stances  in  that  —  er  —  costume,"  she  said.  "Sup 
pose  we  call  for  help.  He  '11  probably  come  bounding. 
Help!"  she  yelled,  between  bites,  as  one  may  say. 

"Help!  Fire!  Police!" 

"Help!"  cried  Aggie.  "Percy,  help!"  It  sounded 
like  "Mercy,  help!" 

It  worked  like  a  charm.  The  faint  cracking  be 
came  louder,  nearer,  turned  from  a  suspicion  to  a 
certainty  and  from  a  certainty  to  a  fact.  The  bushes 
parted  and  Percy  stood  before  us.  All  he  saw  was 
three  elderly  women  eating  frogs'  legs  round  a  fire 
under  a  cloud  of  mosquitoes.  He  stopped,  dum- 
founded,  and  in  that  instant  we  saw  that  he  did  n't 
need  the  physical  exercises,  but  that,  of  course,  he  did 
need  the  rabbit-skin  suit. 

"  Great  Scott ! "  he  panted.  "  I  thought  I  heard  you 
calling  for  help." 

"So  we  did,"  said  Tish,  "but  we  didn't  need  it. 
Won't  you  sit  down?" 

He  looked  dazed  and  backed  toward  the  bushes. 

145 


TISH 


"I — I  think,"  he  said,  "if  there's  nothing  wrong 
I'd  better  not—" 

"Fiddlesticks!"  Tish  snapped.  "Are  you  ashamed 
of  the  body  the  Lord  gave  you?  Don't  you  suppose 
we've  all  got  skins?  And  did  n't  I  thrash  my  nephew, 
Charlie  Sands,  when  he  was  almost  as  big  as  you  and 
had  less  on,  for  bathing  in  the  river?  Sit  down,  man, 
and  don't  be  a  fool." 

He  edged  toward  the  fire,  looking  rather  silly,  and 
Aggie  passed  him  a  frog's  leg  on  a  piece  of  bark. 

"Try  this,  Percy,"  she  said,  smiling. 

At  the  name  he  looked  ready  to  run.  "I  guess  you 
've  seen  the  notices,"  he  said,  "so  you'll  understand  I 
cannot  accept  any  food  or  assistance.  I  'm  very  grate 
ful  to  you,  anyhow." 

"You  may  take  what  food  you  find,  surely,"  said 
Aggie.  "If  you  find  a  roasted  frog's  leg  on  the  ground 
—  so  —  there's  nothing  to  prevent  you  eating  it,  is 
there?" 

"Nothing  at  all,"  said  Percy,  and  picked  it  up. 
"Unless,  of  course — " 

"It's  not  a  trap,  young  man,"  said  Tish.  "Eat  it 
and  enjoy  it.  There  are  lots  more  where  it  came 
from." 

He  relaxed  at  that,  and  on  Tish's  bringing  out  a 
blanket  from  the  tent  to  throw  over  his  shoulders  he 
became  almost  easy.  He  was  much  surprised  to  learn 
that  we  knew  his  story,  and  when  I  repeated  the 
"love  him"  message,  he  seemed  to  grow  a  foot  taller 
and  his  eyes  glowed. 

146 


TISH  

" I  'm  holding  out  all  right,"  he  said.  "  I  'm  fit  phys 
ically.  But  the  thing  that  gets  my  goat  is  that  I'm 
to  come  out  clothed.  Dorothea's  father  says  that 
primitive  man,  with  nothing  but  his  hands  and  per 
haps  a  stone  club,  fed  himself,  made  himself  a  shelter, 
and  clothed  himself  in  skins.  Skins!  I'm  so  big  that 
two  or  three  bears  would  hardly  be  enough.  I  did 
find  a  hole  that  I  thought  a  bear  or  two  might  fall 
into,  and  got  almost  stung  to  death  robbing  a  bee  tree 
to  bait  the  thing  with  honey.  But  there  are  n't  any 
bears,  and  if  there  were  how'd  I  kill  'em?  Wait  until 
they  starve  to  death?" 

"Rabbits!"  said  Tish. 

He  looked  down  at  himself  and  he  seemed  very 
large  in  the  firelight. 

"Dear  lady,"  he  said,  "there  aren't  enough  rabbits 
in  the  county  to  cover  me,  and  how'd  I  put  'em  to 
gether?  I  was  a  fool  to  undertake  the  thing,  that 's  all." 

"But  are  n't  you  in  love  with  her?"  asked  Aggie. 

"  Well,  I  guess  I  am.  It  is  n't  that,  you  know.  I  'm 
a  good  bit  worse  than  crazy  about  her.  A  man  might 
be  crazy  about  a  mint  julep  or  a  power  boat,  but  — 
well,  he'd  hardly  go  into  the  woods  in  his  skin  and 
live  on  fish  until  he's  scaly  for  either  of  them.  If  I 
don't  get  her,  I  don't  want  to  live.  That's  all." 

He  looked  so  gloomy  and  savage  that  we  saw  he 
meant  it,  and  Aggie  was  perceptibly  thrilled. 

Tish,  however,  was  thinking  hard,  her  eyes  on  the 
leech.  "Was  there  anything  in  the  agreement  to  pre 
vent  your  accepting  any  suggestions?" 

147 


TISH 

He  pondered.  "No,  I  was  to  be  given  no  food, 
drink,  shelter,  or  any  weapon.  The  old  man  forgot 
fire  —  that's  how  I  came  to  beg  some." 

"Fire  and  brains,"  reflected  Tish.  "We've  given 
you  the  first  and  we've  plenty  of  the  second  to  offer. 
Now,  young  man,  this  is  my  plan.  We'll  give  you 
nothing  but  suggestions.  If  now  and  then  you  find  a 
cooked  meal  under  that  tree,  that's  accident,  not  de 
sign,  and  you'd  better  eat  it.  Can  you  sew?" 

"I'm  like  the  Irishman  and  the  fiddle  —  I  never 
tried,  but  I  guess  I  can."  He  was  much  more  cheerful. 

"Do  you  have  to  be  alone?" 

"I  believe  he  took  that  for  granted,  in  this  cos 
tume." 

"Will  it  take  you  long  to  move  over  here?" 

"I  think  I  can  move  without  a  van,"  he  said,  grin 
ning.  "My  sole  worldly  possessions  are  a  stone 
hatchet  and  a  hairpin  fishhook." 

"Get  them  and  come  over,"  commanded  Tish. 
"When  you  leave  this  forest  at  the  end  of  the  time 
you  are  going  to  be  fed  and  clothed  and  carry  a  tent; 
you  will  have  with  you  smoked  meat  and  fish;  you 
will  carry  under  your  arm  an  Indian  clock  or  sundial; 
you  will  have  a  lamp  —  if  we  can  find  a  clamshell  or 
a  broken  bottle  —  and  you  will  have  a  fire-making 
outfit  with  your  monogram  on  it." 

"But,  my  dear  friend,"  he  said,  "I  am  not  sup 
posed  to  have  any  assistance  and  — " 

"Assistance! "  Tish  snapped.  "  Who  said  assistance? 
I'm  providing  the  brains,  but  you'll  do  it  all  yourself." 

148 


TISH  

He  moved  over  an  hour  or  so  later  and  Tish  and  I 
went  into  the  tent  to  bed.  Somewhat  later,  when  she 
limped  to  the  fire  to  see  how  the  leech  was  filling  up, 
he  and  Aggie  were  sitting  together  talking,  he  of 
Dorothea  and  Aggie  of  Mr.  Wiggins.  Tish  said  they 
were  both  talking  at  the  same  time,  neither  one  listen 
ing  to  the  other,  and  that  it  sounded  like  this :  — 

"She's  so  sweet  and  trusting  and  honest  —  well, 
I'd  believe  what  she  said  if  she  — " 

" —  fell  off  a  roof  on  a  rainy  day  and  was  picked  up 
by  a  man  with  a  horse  and  buggy  quite  unconscious." 


THE  next  three  weeks  were  busy  times  for  Percy.  He 
wore  Tish's  blanket  for  two  days,  and  then,  finding  it 
in  the  way,  he  discarded  it  altogether.  Seen  in  day 
light  it  was  easy  to  understand  why  little  Dorothea 
was  in  love  with  him.  He  was  a  handsome  young 
giant,  although  much  bitten  by  mosquitoes  and 
scratched  with  briers. 

The  arrangement  was  a  good  one  all  round.  He 
knew  of  things  in  the  wood  we  'd  never  heard  of  — 
wild  onions  and  artichokes,  and  he  had  found  a  clump 
of  wild  cherry  trees.  He  made  snares  of  the  fibers  of 
tree  bark,  and  he  brought  in  turtles  and  made  plates 
out  of  the  shells.  And  all  the  time  he  was  working  on 
his  outfit,  curing  rabbit  skins  and  sewing  them  to 
gether  with  fibers  under  my  direction. 

When  he'd  made  one  sleeve  of  his  coat  we  had  a 
sort  of  celebration.  He'd  found  an  empty  bottle 
somewhere  in  the  woods,  and  he  had  made  a  wild- 
cherry  decoction  that  he  declared  was  cherry  brandy, 
keeping  it  in  the  sun  to  ferment.  Well,  he  insisted  on 
opening  the  brandy  that  day  and  passing  it  round. 
We  had  cups  made  of  leaves  and  we  drank  to  his 
sleeve,  although  the  stuff  was  villainous.  He  had  put 
the  sleeve  on,  and  it  looked  rather  inadequate. 

"Here's  fun,"  he  said  joyously.  "If  my  English 

150 


TISH  

tailor  could  see  this  sleeve  he  'd  die  of  envy.  A  sleeve 's 
not  all  of  a  coat,  but  what's  a  coat  without  a  sleeve? 
Look  at  it  —  grace,  ease  of  line,  and  beauty  of  mate 
rial." 

Aggie  lifted  her  leaf. 

"To  Dorothea!"  she  said.  "And  may  the  sleeve 
soon  be  about  her." 

Tish  thought  this  toast  was  not  delicate,  but  Percy 
was  enchanted  with  it. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  of  Percy's 
joining  our  camp  that  the  Willoughby  person  ap 
peared.  It  happened  at  a  most  inauspicious  time. 
We  had  eaten  supper  and  were  gathered  round  the 
camp-fire  and  Tish  had  put  wet  leaves  on  the  blaze  to 
make  a  smudge  that  would  drive  the  mosquitoes 
away.  We  were  sitting  there,  Tish  and  I  coughing 
and  Aggie  sneezing  in  the  smoke,  when  Percy  came 
running  through  the  woods  and  stopped  at  the  foot 
of  a  tree  near  by. 

"Bring  a  club,  somebody,"  he  yelled.  "I've  treed 
the  back  of  my  coat." 

Tish  ran  with  one  of  the  tent  poles.  A  tepee  is 
inconvenient  for  that  reason.  Every  time  any  one 
wants  a  fishing-pole  or  a  weapon,  the  tent  loses  part 
of  its  bony  structure  and  sags  like  the  face  of  a  stout 
woman  who  has  reduced.  And  it  turned  out  that 
Percy  had  treed  a  coon.  He  climbed  up  after  it,  tak 
ing  Tish's  pole  with  him  to  dislodge  it,  and  it  was 
at  that  moment  that  a  man  rode  into  the  clearing 
and  practically  fell  off  his  horse.  He  was  dirty  and 

151 


TISH  

scratched  with  brambles,  and  his  once  immaculate 
riding-clothes  were  torn.  He  was  about  to  take  off 
his  hat  when  he  got  a  good  look  at  us  and  changed  his 
mind. 

"Have  you  got  anything  to  eat?"  he  asked.  "I've 
been  lost  since  noon  yesterday  and  I'm  about  all  in." 

The  leaves  caught  fire  suddenly  and  sent  a  glow 
into  Percy's  tree.  I  shall  never  forget  Aggie's  ago 
nized  look  or  the  way  Tish  flung  on  more  wet  leaves 
in  a  hurry. 

"I'm  sorry,"  she  said,  "but  supper's  over." 

"But  surely  a  starving  man  — " 

"You  won't  starve  inside  of  a  week,"  Tish  snapped. 
"You've  got  enough  flesh  on  you  for  a  month." 

He  stared  at  her  incredulously. 

"But,  my  good  woman,"  he  said,  "I  can  pay  for 
my  food.  Even  you  itinerant  folk  need  money  now 
and  then,  don't  you?  Come,  now,  cook  me  a  fish;  I'll 
pay  for  it.  My  name  is  Willoughby  —  J.  K.  Wil- 
loughby.  Perhaps  you've  heard  of  me." 

Tish  cast  a  swift  glance  into  the  tree.  It  was  in 
shadow  again  and  she  drew  a  long  breath.  She  said 
afterward  that  the  whole  plan  came  to  her  in  the  in 
stant  of  that  breath. 

"We  can  give  you  something,"  she  said  indiffer 
ently.  "We  have  a  stewed  rabbit,  if  you  care  for  it." 

There  was  a  wild  scramble  in  the  tree  at  that  mo 
ment,  and  we  thought  all  was  over.  We  learned  later 
that  Percy  had  made  a  move  to  climb  higher,  out  of 
the  firelight,  and  the  coon  had  been  so  startled  that 

152 


TISH  

he  almost  fell  out.  But  instead  of  looking  up  to  inves 
tigate,  the  stranger  backed  toward  the  fire. 

"Only  a  wildcat,"  said  Tish.  "They'll  not  come 
near  the  fire." 

"Near!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Willoughby.  "If  they 
came  any  nearer,  they'd  have  to  get  into  it!" 

"I  think,"  said  Tish,  "that  if  you  are  afraid  of 
them  —  although  you  are  safe  enough  if  you  don't 
get  under  the  trees;  they  jump  down,  you  know  — 
that  you  would  better  stay  by  the  fire  to-night.  In 
the  morning  we'll  start  you  toward  a  road." 

All  night  with  Percy  in  the  tree!  I  gave  her  a  sav 
age  glance,  but  she  ignored  me. 

The  Willoughby  looked  up  nervously,  and  of  course 
there  were  trees  all  about. 

"I  guess  I'll  stay,"  he  agreed.  "What  about  that 
rabbit?" 

I  did  not  know  Tish's  plan  at  that  time,  and  while 
Aggie  was  feeding  the  Willoughby  person  and  he  was 
grumbling  over  his  food,  I  took  Tish  aside. 

"Are  you  crazy?"  I  demanded.  "Just  through 
your  idiocy  Percy  will  have  to  stay  in  that  tree  all 
night  —  and  he'll  go  to  sleep,  likely,  and  fall  out." 

Tish  eyed  me  coldly. 

"You  are  a  good  soul,  Lizzie,"  she  observed,  "but 
don't  overwork  your  mind.  Go  back  and  do  some 
thing  easy  —  let  the  Willoughby  cross  your  palm 
with  silver,  and  tell  his  fortune.  If  he  asks  any  ques 
tions  I  'm  queen  of  the  gypsies,  and  give  him  to  under 
stand  that  we're  in  temporary  hiding  from  the  law. 

153 


TISH  

The  worse  he  thinks  of  us  the  better.  Remember,  we 
have  n't  seen  Percy." 

"I'm  not  going  to  lie,"  I  said  sternly. 

"Pooh!"  Tish  sneered.  "That  wretch  came  into 
the  woods  to  gloat  over  his  rival's  misery.  The 
truth 's  too  good  for  him." 

I  did  my  best,  and  I  still  have  the  silver  dollar  he 
gave  me.  I  told  him  I  saw  a  small  girl,  who  loved  him 
but  did  n't  realize  it  yet,  and  there  was  another  man. 

"Good  gracious,"  I  said,  "there  must  be  something 
wrong  with  your  palm.  I  see  the  other  man,  but  he 
seems  to  be  in  trouble.  His  clothing  has  been  stolen, 
for  he  has  none,  and  he  is  hungry,  very  hungry." 

"Ha!"  said  Mr.  Willoughby,  looking  startled. 
"You  old  gypsies  beat  the  devil!  Hungry,  eh?  Is 
that  all?" 

The  light  flared  up  again  and  I  could  see  clearly  the 
pale  spot  in  the  tree,  which  was  Percy.  But  Mr. 
Willoughby's  eyes  were  on  his  palm. 

"He  has  about  decided  to  give  up  something  —  I 
cannot  see  just  what,"  I  said  loudly.  "He  seems  to 
be  in  the  air,  in  a  tree,  perhaps.  If  he  wishes  to  be  safe 
he  should  go  higher." 

Percy  took  the  hint  and  moved  up,  and  I  said  that 
was  all  there  was  in  the  palm.  Soon  after  that  Mr. 
Willoughby  stretched  out  on  the  ground  by  the  fire, 
and  before  long  he  was  asleep. 

During  the  night  I  heard  Tish  moving  stealthily 
about  in  the  tepee  and  she  stepped  on  my  ankle  as 
she  went  out.  I  fell  asleep  again  as  soon  as  it  stopped 

154 


TISH  - 

aching.  Just  at  dawn  Tish  came  back  and  touched 
me  on  the  shoulder. 

"Where's  the  blackberry  cordial?"  she  whispered: 

I  sat  up  instantly. 

"Has  Percy  fallen  out  of  the  tree?" 

"No.  Don't  ask  any  questions,  Lizzie.  I  want  it 
for  myself.  That  dratted  horse  fell  on  me." 

She  refused  to  say  any  more  and  lay  down  groan 
ing.  But  I  was  too  worried  to  sleep  again. 

In  the  morning  Percy  was  gone  from  the  tree.  Mr. 
Willoughby  had  more  rabbit  and  prepared  to  leave 
the  forest.  He  offered  Tish  a  dollar  for  the  two  meals 
and  a  bed,  and  Tish,  who  was  moving  about  stiffly, 
said  that  she  and  her  people  took  no  money  for  their 
hospitality.  Telling  fortunes  was  one  thing,  bread 
and  salt  was  another.  She  looked  quite  haughty,  and 
the  Willoughby  person  apologized  and  went  into  the 
woods  to  get  his  horse. 

The  horse  was  gone! 

It  was  rather  disagreeable  for  a  time.  He  plainly 
thought  we'd  taken  it,  although  Tish  showed  him 
that  the  end  of  the  strap  had  been  chewed  partly 
through  and  then  jerked  free. 

"If  the  creature  smelled  a  wildcat,"  she  said, 
"nothing  would  hold  it.  None  of  my  people  ever 
bring  a  horse  into  this  part  of  the  country." 

"Humph!"  said  Mr.  Willoughby.  "Well,  I'll  bet 
they  take  a  few  out!" 

He  departed  on  foot  shortly  after,  very  disgusted 
and  suspicious.  We  showed  him  the  trail,  and  the  last 

155 


TISH 


we  saw  of  him  he  was  striding  along,  looking  up  now 
and  then  for  wildcats. 

When  he  was  well  on  his  way,  Percy  emerged  from 
the  bushes.  I  had  thought  that  he  had  helped  Tish  to 
take  the  Willoughby  horse,  but  it  seems  he  had  not, 
and  he  was  much  amazed  when  Tish  came  through 
the  wood  leading  the  creature  by  the  broken  strap. 

"I  '11  turn  it  loose,"  she  said  to  Percy,  "and  you 
can  capture  it.  It  will  make  a  good  effect  for  you  to 
emerge  from  the  forest  on  horseback,  and  anyhow, 
what  with  the  rabbit  skin,  the  tent,  and  the  sundial 
and  the  other  things,  you  have  a  lot  to  carry.  You 
can  say  you  found  it  straying  in  the  woods  and  cap 
tured  it." 

Percy  looked  at  her  with  admiration  not  unmixed 
with  reverence.  "Miss  Letitia,"  he  said  solemnly, 
"if  it  were  not  for  Dorothea,  I  should  ask  you  to 
marry  me.  I  *d  like  to  have  you  in  my  family." 

I  am  very  nearly  to  the  end  of  my  narrative. 

Toward  the  last  Percy  was  obliged  to  work  far  into 
the  night,  for  of  course  we  could  not  assist  him.  He 
made  a  full  suit  of  rabbit  skins  sewed  with  fibers,  and 
a  cap  and  shoes  of  coonskin  to  match.  The  shoes  were 
cut  from  a  bedroom-slipper  pattern  that  Tish  traced 
in  the  sand  on  the  beach,  and  the  cap  had  an  eagle 
feather  in  it.  He  made  a  birch-bark  knapsack  to  hold 
the  fish  he  smoked  and  a  bow  and  arrow  that  looked 
well  but  would  not  shoot.  When  he  had  the  outfit 
completed,  he  put  it  on,  with  the  stone  hatchet  stuck 

156 


TISH  

into  a  grapevine  belt  and  the  bow  and  arrow  over  his 
shoulder,  and  he  looked  superb. 

"The  question  is/'  he  reflected,  trying  to  view  him 
self  in  the  edge  of  the  lake:  "Will  Dorothea  like  it? 
She's  very  keen  about  clothes.  And  gee,  how  she 
hates  a  beard!" 

"You  could  shave  as  the  Indians  do,"  Tish  said. 

"How?" 
'  "With  a  clamshell." 

He  looked  dubious,  but  Tish  assured  him  it  was 
feasible.  So  he  hunted  a  clamshell,  a  double  one,  Tish 
requested,  and  brought  it  into  camp. 

"I'd  better  do  it  for  you,"  said  Tish.  "It's  likely 
to  be  slow,  but  it  is  sure." 

He  was  eyeing  the  clamshell  and  looking  more  and 
more  uneasy. 

"You're  not  going  to  scrape  it  off?"  he  asked  anx 
iously.  "  Yoti  know,  pumice  would  be  better  for  that, 
but  somehow  I  don't  like  the  idea." 

"Nothing  of  the  sort,"  said  Tish.  "The  double 
clamshell  merely  forms  a  pair  of  Indian  nippers.  I'm 
going  to  pull  it  out." 

But  he  made  quite  a  fuss  about  it,  and  said  he 
didn't  care  whether  the  Indians  did  it  or  not,  he 
would  n't.  I  think  he  saw  how  disappointed  Tish  was 
and  was  afraid  she  would  attempt  it  while  he  slept, 
for  he  threw  the  Indian  nippers  into  the  lake  and  then 
went  over  and  kissed  her  hand. 

"Dear  Miss  Tish,"  he  said,  "no  one  realizes  more 
than  I  your  inherent  nobility  of  soul  and  steadfast- 

157 


TISH  

ness  of  purpose.  I  admire  them  both.  But  if  you  at 
tempt  the  Indian  nipper  business,  or  to  singe  me  like 
a  chicken  while  I  sleep,  I  shall  be  —  forgive  me,  but 
I  know  my  impulsiveness  of  disposition  —  I  shall  be 
really  vexed  with  you." 

Toward  the  last  we  all  became  uneasy  for  fear  hard 
work  was  telling  on  him  physically.  He  used  to  sit 
cross-legged  on  the  ground,  sewing  for  dear  life  and 
singing  Hood's  "Song  of  the  Shirt"  in  a  doleful 
tenor. 

"You  know,"  he  said,  "I've  thought  once  or  twice 
I  'd  like  to  do  something  —  have  a  business  like  other 
fellows.  But  somehow  dressmaking  never  occurred 
to  me.  Don't  you  think  the  expression  of  this  right 
pant  is  good?  And  shall  I  make  this  gore  bias  or  on 
the  selvage?  " 

He  wanted  to  slash  one  trouser  leg. 

"Why  not?"  he  demanded  when  Tish  frowned  him 
down.  "It's  awfully  fetching,  and  beauty  half -re 
vealed,  you  know.  Do  you  suppose  my  breastbone 
will  ever  straighten  out  again?  It's  concave  from 
stooping." 

It  was  after  this  that  Tish  made  him  exercise  morn 
ing  and  evening  and  then  take  a  swim  in  the  lake.  By 
the  time  he  was  to  start  back,  he  was  in  wonderful 
condition,  and  even  the  horse  looked  saucy  and  shiny, 
owing  to  our  rubbing  him  down  each  day  with  dried 
grasses. 

The  actual  leave-taking  was  rather  sad.  We'd 
grown  to  think  a  lot  of  the  boy  and  I  believe  he  liked 

158 


TISH 


us.  He  kissed  each  one  of  us  twice,  once  for  himself 
and  once  for  Dorothea,  and  flushed  a  little  over  doing 
it,  and  Aggie's  eyes  were  full  of  tears. 

He  rode  away  down  the  trail  like  a  mixture  of 
Robinson  Crusoe  and  Indian  brave,  his  rubbing-fire 
stick,  his  sundial  with  burned  figures,  and  his  bow 
and  arrow  jingling,  his  eagle  feather  blowing  back  in 
the  wind,  and  his  moccasined  feet  thrust  into  Mr. 
Willoughby's  stirrups,  and  left  us  desolate.  Tish 
watched  him  out  of  sight  with  set  lips  and  Aggie  was 
whimpering  on  a  bank. 

"Tish,"  she  said  brokenly,  "does  he  recall  any 
thing  to  you?" 

"Only  my  age,"  said  Tish  rather  wearily,  "and 
that  I'm  an  elderly  spinster  teaching  children  to  defy 
their  parents  and  committing  larceny  to  help  them." 

"To  me,"  said  Aggie  softly,  "he  is  young  love  go 
ing  out  to  seek  his  mate.  Oh,  Tish,  do  you  remember 
how  Mr.  Wiggins  used  to  ride  by  taking  his  work 
horses  to  be  shod!" 

We  went  home  the  following  day,  which  was  the 
time  the  spring-wagon  man  was  to  meet  us.  We 
started  very  early  and  were  properly  clothed  and 
hatted  when  we  saw  him  down  the  road. 

The  spring-wagon  person  came  on  without  hurry 
and  surveyed  us  as  he  came. 

"Well,  ladies,"  he  said,  stopping  before  us,  "I  see 
you  pulled  it  off  all  right." 

"We've  had  a  very  nice  time,  thank  you,"  said 
159 


TISH  

Tish,  drawing  on  her  gloves.  "  It 's  been  rather  lonely, 
of  course." 

The  spring- wagon  person  did  not  speak  again  until 
he  had  reached  the  open  road.  Then  he  turned  round. 

"The  horse  business  was  pretty  good,"  he  said. 
"You  ought  to  hev  seen  them  folks  when  he  rode  out 
of  the  wood.  Flabbergasted  ain't  the  word.  They 
was  ding-busted." 

Tish  whispered  to  us  to  show  moderate  interest  and 
to  say  as  little  as  possible,  except  to  protest  our  ig 
norance.  And  we  got  the  story  at  last  like  this:  — 

It  seems  the  newspapers  had  been  full  of  the  at 
tempt  Percy  was  to  make,  and  so  on  the  day  before 
quite  a  crowd  had  gathered  to  see  him  come  out  of 
the  wood. 

"Ten  of  these  here  automobiles,"  said  the  spring- 
wagon  person,  "and  a  hay- wagon  full  of  newspaper 
fellows  from  the  city  with  cameras,  and  about  half  the 
village  back  home  walked  out  or  druv  and  brought 
their  lunches  —  sort  of  a  picnic.  I  kep'  my  eye  on  the 
girl  and  on  a  Mr.  Willoughby. 

"The  story  is  that  Willoughby  who  was  the  father's 
choice  —  Willoughby  was  pale  and  twitching  and 
kep'  moving  about  all  the  time.  But  the  girl,  she  just 
kep'  her  eyes  on  the  trail  and  waited.  Noon  was  the 
time  set,  or  as  near  it  as  possible. 

"The  father  talked  to  the  newspaper  men  mostly. 
'I  don't  think  he'll  do  it,  boys!'  he  said.  'He's  as 
soft  as  milk  and  he's  surprised  me  by  sticking  it  out 
as  long  as  he  has.  But  mark  my  words,  boys,'  he  said, 

160 


TISH 


'he's  been  living  on  berries  and  things  he  could  pick 
up  off  the  ground,  and  if  his  physical  condition 's  bad 
he  loses  all  bets!"' 

It  seems  that,  just  as  he  said  it,  somebody  pulled 
out  a  watch  and  announced  "noon."  And  on  the  in 
stant  Percy  was  seen  riding  down  the  trail  and  whis 
tling.  At  first  they  did  not  know  it  was  he,  as  they 
had  expected  him  to  arrive  on  foot,  staggering  with 
fatigue  probably.  He  rode  out  into  the  sunlight,  still 
whistling,  and  threw  an  unconcerned  glance  over  the 
crowd. 

He  looked  at  the  trees,  and  located  north  by  the 
moss  on  the  trunks,  the  S.-W.  P.  said,  and  unslinging 
his  Indian  clock  he  held  it  in  front  of  him,  pointing 
north  and  south.  It  showed  exactly  noon.  It  was 
then,  and  not  until  then,  that  Percy  addressed  the 
astonished  crowd. 

"Twelve  o'clock,  gentlemen,"  he  said.  "My  watch 
is  quite  accurate." 

Nobody  said  anything,  being,  as  the  S.-W.  P.  re 
marked,  struck  dumb.  But  a  moment  afterward  the 
hay-wagon  started  a  cheer  and  the  machines  took  it 
up.  Even  the  father  "let  loose,"  as  we  learned,  and 
the  little  girl  sat  back  in  her  motor  car  and  smiled 
through  her  tears. 

But  Willoughby  was  furious.  It  seems  he  had  rec 
ognized  the  horse.  "That's  my  horse,"  he  snarled. 
"You  stole  it  from  me." 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,"  Percy  retorted,  "I  found  the 
beast  wandering  loose  among  the  trees  and  I'm  per- 

161 


TISH  

fectly  willing  to  return  him  to  you.  I  brought  him 
out  for  a  purpose." 

"To  make  a  Garrison  finish!" 

"Not  entirely.  To  prove  that  you  violated  the 
contract  by  going  into  the  forest  to  see  if  you  could 
find  me  and  gloat  over  my  misery.  Instead  you  found 
—  By  the  way,  Willoughby,  did  you  see  any  wild 
cats?" 

"Those  three  hags  are  in  this!"  said  Willoughby 
furiously.  "Are  you  willing  to  swear  you  made  that 
silly  outfit?" 

"I  am,  but  not  to  you." 

"And  at  that  minute,  if  you'll  believe  me,"  said 
the  S.-W.  P.,  "the  girl  got  out  of  her  machine  and 
walked  right  up  to  the  Percy  fellow.  I  was  standing 
right  by  and  I  heard  what  she  said.  It  was  curious, 
seeing  he'd  had  no  help  and  had  gone  in  naked,  as  you 
may  say,  and  came  out  clothed  head  to  foot,  with  a 
horse  and  weapons  and  a  watch,  and  able  to  make  fire 
in  thirty-one  seconds,  and  a  tent  made  of  about  a 
thousand  rabbit  skins." 

Tish  eyed  him  coldly. 

"What  did  she  say?"  she  demanded  severely. 

"She  said:  'Those  three  dear  old  things!'"  replied 
the  S.-W.  P.  "And  she  said : ' I  hope  you  kissed  them 
forme.'" 

"He  did  indeed,"  said  Aggie  dreamily,  and  only 
roused  when  Tish  nudged  her  in  a  rage. 

Charlie  Sands  came  to  have  tea  with  us  yesterday 

162 


TISH  

at  Tish's.  He  is  just  back  from  England  and  full  of 
the  subject. 

"But  after  all,"  he  said,  "the  Simple  Lifers  take 
the  palm.  Think  of  it,  my  three  revered  and  dearly 
beloved  spinster  friends;  think  of  the  peace,  the 
holy  calm  of  it!  Now,  if  you  three  would  only  drink 
less  tea  and  once  in  a  while  would  get  back  to  Na 
ture  a  bit,  it  would  be  good  for  you.  You're  all  too 
civilized." 

"Probably,"  said  Tish,  pulling  down  her  sleeves  to 
hide  her  sunburned  hands.  "But  do  you  think  people 
have  so  much  time  in  the  — er  —  woods?" 

"Time!"  he  repeated.  "Why,  what  is  there  to 
do?" 

Just  then  the  doorbell  rang  and  a  huge  box  was 
carried  in.  Tish  had  a  warning  and  did  not  wish  to 
open  it,  but  Charlie  Sands  insisted  and  cut  the  string. 
Inside  were  three  sets  of  sable  furs,  handsomer  than 
any  in  the  church,  Tish  says,  and  I  know  I  Ve  never 
seen  any  like  them. 

Tish  and  I  hid  the  cards,  but  Aggie  dropped  hers 
and  Charlie  Sands  pounced  on  it. 

"'The  sleeve  is  now  about  Dorothea,'"  he  read 
aloud,  and  then,  turning,  eyed  us  all  sternly. 

"Now,  then,"  said  Charlie  Sands,  "out  with  it! 
What  have  you  been  up  to  this  time?" 

Tish  returned  his  gaze  calmly. 

"We  have  been  in  the  Maine  woods  in  the  holy 
calm,"  she  said.  "As  for  those  furs,  I  suppose  a  body 
may  buy  a  set  of  furs  if  she  likes."  This,  of  course, 

163 


TISH  

was  not  a  lie.  "As  for  that  card,  it's  a  mistake." 
Which  it  was  indeed. 

"But  —  Dorothea!"  persisted  Charlie  Sands. 

"Never  in  my  life  knew  anybody  named  Dorothea. 
Did  you,  Aggie?" 

"Never,"  said  Aggie  firmly. 

Charlie  Sands  apologized  and  looked  thoughtful. 
On  Tish's  remaining  rather  injured,  he  asked  us  all 
out  to  dinner  that  night,  and  almost  the  first  thing  he 
ordered  was  frogs'  legs.  Aggie  got  rather  white  about 
the  lips. 

"I  —  I  think  I'll  not  take  any,"  she  said  feebly. 
"I  —  I  keep  thinking  of  Tish  tickling  their  throats 
with  the  hairpin,  and  how  Percy  — " 

We  glared  at  her,  but  it  was  too  late.  Charlie  Sands 
drew  up  his  chair  and  rested  his  elbows  on  the  table. 

"So  there  was  a  Percy  as  well  as  a  Dorothea!"  he 
said  cheerfully.  " I  might  have  known  it.  Now  we'll 
have  the  story!" 


TISH'S  SPY 


TISH'S   SPY 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  RED-HEADED  DETEC 
TIVE,  THE  LADY  CHAUFFEUR,  AND  THE  MAN 
WHO  COULD  NOT  TELL  THE  TRUTH 


IT  is  easy  enough,  of  course,  to  look  back  on  our 
Canadian  experience  and  see  where  we  went  wrong. 
What  I  particularly  resent  is  the  attitude  of  Charlie 
Sands. 

I  am  writing  this  for  his  benefit.  It  seems  to  me 
that  a  clean  statement  of  the  case  is  due  to  Tish,  and, 
in  less  degree,  to  Aggie  and  myself. 

It  goes  back  long  before  the  mysterious  cipher. 
Even  the  incident  of  our  abducting  the  girl  in  the 
pink  tam-o'-shanter  was,  after  all,  the  inevitable  re 
sult  of  the  series  of  occurrences  that  preceded  it. 

It  is  my  intention  to  give  this  series  of  occurrences 
in  their  proper  order  and  without  bias.  Herbert 
Spencer  says  that  every  act  of  one's  life  is  the  un 
avoidable  result  of  every  act  that  has  preceded  it. 

Naturally,  therefore,  I  begin  with  the  engagement 
by  Tish  of  a  girl  as  chauffeur;  but  even  before  that 
there  were  contributing  causes.  There  was  the  faulty 
rearing  of  the  McDonald  youth,  for  instance,  and 
Tish's  aesthetic  dancing.  And  afterward  there  was 

167 


TISH  

Aggie's  hay  fever,  which  made  her  sneeze  and  let  go 
of  a  rope  at  a  critical  moment.  Indeed,  Aggie's  hay 
fever  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  fundamental 
causes,  being  the  reason  we  went  to  Canada. 

It  was  like  this :  Along  in  June  of  the  year  before 
last,  Aggie  suddenly  announced  that  she  was  going 
to  spend  the  summer  in  Canada. 

"It's  the  best  thing  in  the  world  for  hay  fever," 
she  said,  avoiding  Tish's  eye.  "Mrs.  Ostermaier 
says  she  never  sneezed  once  last  year.  The  Northern 
Lights  fill  the  air  with  ozone,  or  something  like  that." 

"Fill  the  air  with  ozone!"  Tish  scoffed.  "Fill  Mrs. 
Ostermaier's  skull  with  ozone,  instead  of  brains,  more 
likely!" 

Tish  is  a  good  woman  —  a  sweet  woman,  indeed; 
but  she  has  a  vein  of  gentle  irony,  which  she  inher 
ited  from  her  maternal  grandfather,  who  was  on  the 
Supreme  Bench  of  his  country.  However,  that  spring 
she  was  inclined  to  be  irritable.  She  could  not  drive 
her  car,  and  that  was  where  the  trouble  really  started. 

Tish  had  taken  up  aesthetic  dancing  in  March, 
wearing  no  stays  and  a  middy  blouse  and  short  skirt; 
and  during  a  fairy  dance,  where  she  was  to  twirl  on 
her  right  toes,  keeping  the  three  other  limbs  horizon 
tal,  she  twisted  her  right  lower  limb  severely.  Though 
not  incapacitated,  she  could  not  use  it  properly; 
and,  failing  one  day  to  put  on  the  brake  quickly,  she 
drove  into  an  open-front  butter-and-egg  shop. 

[This  was  the  time  one  of  the  newspapers  headed 
the  article:  "Even  the  Eggs  Scrambled."] 

168 


TISH 


When  Tish  decided  to  have  a  chauffeur  for  a  time 
she  advertised.  There  were  plenty  of  replies,  but  all 
of  the  applicants  smoked  cigarettes  —  a  habit  Tish 
very  properly  deplores.  The  idea  of  securing  a  young 
woman  was,  I  must  confess,  mine. 

"Plenty  of  young  women  drive  cars,"  I  said,  "and 
drive  well.  And,  at  least,  they  don't  light  a  cigarette 
every  time  one  stops  to  let  a  train  go  by." 

"Huh!"  Tish  commented.  "And  have  a  raft  of 
men  about  all  the  timel" 

Nevertheless,  she  acted  on  the  suggestion,  adver 
tising  for  a  young  woman  who  could  drive  a  car  and 
had  no  followers.  Hutchins  answered. 

She  was  very  pretty  and  not  over  twenty;  but, 
asked  about  men,  her  face  underwent  a  change,  al 
most  a  hardening. 

"You'll  not  be  bothered  with  men,"  she  said 
briefly.  "I  detest  them!" 

And  this  seemed  to  be  the  truth.  Charlie  Sands, 
for  instance,  for  whose  benefit  this  is  being  written, 
absolutely  failed  to  make  any  impression  on  her.  She 
met  his  overtures  with  cold  disdain.  She  was  also 
adamant  to  the  men  at  the  garage,  succeeding  in 
having  the  gasoline  filtered  through  a  chamois  skin 
to  take  out  the  water,  where  Tish  had  for  years 
begged  for  the  same  thing  without  success. 

Though  a  dashing  driver,  Hutchins  was  careful. 
She  sat  on  the  small  of  her  back  and  hurled  us  past 
the  traffic  policemen  with  a  smile. 

[Her  name  was  really  Hutchinson;  but  it  took  so 

169 


T1SH 


long  to  say  it  at  the  rate  she  ran  the  car  that  Tish 
changed  it  to  Hutchins.] 

Really  the  whole  experiment  seemed  to  be  an 
undoubted  success,  when  Aggie  got  the  notion  of 
Canada  into  her  head.  Now,  as  it  happened,  owing 
to  Tish's  disapproval,  Aggie  gave  up  the  Canada 
idea  in  favor  of  Nantucket,  some  time  in  June;  but 
she  had  not  reckoned  with  Tish's  subconscious  self. 

Tish  was  interested  that  spring  in  the  subcon 
scious  self.  You  may  remember  that,  only  a  year  or 
so  before,  it  had  been  the  fourth  dimension. 

[She  became  convinced  that  if  one  were  sufficiently 
earnest  one  could  go  through  closed  doors  and  see 
into  solids.  In  the  former  ambition  she  was  unsuc 
cessful,  obtaining  only  bruises  and  disappointment; 
but  she  did  develop  the  latter  to  a  certain  extent,  for 
she  met  the  laundress  going  out  one  day  and,  with 
out  a  conscious  effort,  she  knew  that  she  had  the 
best  table  napkins  pinned  to  her  petticoat.  She 
accused  the  woman  sternly  —  and  she  had  six !] 

"Nantucket!"  said  Tish.   "Why  Nantucket?" 

"I  have  a  niece  there,  and  you  said  you  hated 
Canada." 

"On  the  contrary,"  Tish  replied,  with  her  eyes 
partly  shut,  "I  find  that  my  subconscious  self  has 
adopted  and  been  working  on  the  Canadian  sugges 
tion.  What  a  wonderful  thing  is  this  buried  and 
greater  ego!  Worms,  rifles,  fishing-rods,  'The  Com 
plete  Angler,'  mosquito  netting,  canned  goods,  and 
sleeping-bags,  all  in  my  mind  and  in  orderly  array!" 

170 


TISH 


"Worms!"  I  said,  with,  I  confess,  a  touch  of 
scorn  in  my  voice.  "If  you  will  tell  me,  Tish  Car- 
berry—" 

"Life  preservers,"  chanted  Tish's  subconscious 
self,  "rubber  blankets,  small  tent,  folding  camp- 
beds,  a  camp-stove,  a  meat-saw,  a  wood-saw,  and 
some  beads  and  gewgaws  for  placating  the  Indians." 
Then  she  opened  her  eyes  and  took  up  her  knitting. 
"There  are  no  worms  in  Canada,  Lizzie,  just  as  there 
are  no  snakes  in  Ireland.  They  were  all  destroyed 
during  the  glacial  period." 

"There  are  plenty  of  worms  in  the  United  States," 
I  said  with  spirit.  "I  dare  say  they  could  crawl  over 
the  border  —  unless,  of  course,  they  object  to  being 
British  subjects." 

She  ignored  me,  however,  and,  getting  up,  went  to 
one  of  her  bureau  drawers.  We  saw  then  that  her 
subconscious  self  had  written  down  lists  of  various 
things  for  the  Canadian  excursion.  There  was  one 
headed  Foodstuffs.  Others  were :  Necessary  Clothing; 
Camp  Outfit;  Fishing-Tackle;  Weapons  of  Defense; 
and  Diversions.  Under  this  last  heading  it  had  placed 
binoculars,  yarn  and  needles,  life  preservers,  a  prayer- 
book,  and  a  cribbage-board. 

"Boats,"  she  said,  "we  can  secure  from  the  In 
dians,  who  make  them,  I  believe,  of  hollow  logs.  And 
I  shall  rent  a  motor  boat.  Hutchins  says  she  can 
manage  one.  When  she's  not  doing  that  she  can 
wash  dishes." 

[We  had  been  rather  chary  of  motor  boats,  you 

171 


TISH  

may  remember,  since  the  time  on  Lake  Penzance, 
when  something  jammed  on  our  engine,  and  we  had 
gone  madly  round  the  lake  a  number  of  times,  with 
people  on  various  docks  trying  to  lasso  us  with 
ropes.] 

Considering  that  it  was  she  who  had  started  the 
whole  thing,  and  got  Tish's  subconscious  mind  to 
working,  Aggie  was  rather  pettish. 

"Huh!"  she  said.  "I  can't  swim,  and  you  know 
it,  Tish.  Those  canoe  things  turn  over  if  you  so 
much  as  sneeze  in  them." 

"You'll  not  sneeze,"  said  Tish.  "The  Northern 
Lights  fill  the  air  with  ozone." 

Aggie  looked  at  me  helplessly;  but  I  could  do  noth 
ing.  Only  the  year  before,  Tish,  as  you  may  recall, 
had  taken  us  out  into  the  Maine  woods  without  any 
outfit  at  all,  and  we  had  lived  on  snared  rabbits,  and 
things  that  no  Christian  woman  ought  to  put  into 
her  stomach.  This  time  we  were  at  least  to  go  pro 
visioned  and  equipped. 

"Where  are  we  going?"  Aggie  asked. 

"Far  from  a  white  man,"  said  Tish.  "Away  from 
milk  wagons  and  children  on  velocipedes  and  the 
grocer  calling  up  every  morning  for  an  order.  We'll 
go  to  the  Far  North,  Aggie,  where  the  red  man  still 
treads  his  native  forests;  we'll  make  our  camp  by 
some  lake,  where  the  deer  come  at  early  morning  to 
drink  and  fish  leap  to  see  the  sunset." 

Well,  it  sounded  rather  refreshing,  though  I  con 
fess  that,  until  Tish  mentioned  it,  I  had  always 

172 


TISH  

thought  that  fish  leaped  in  the  evening  to  catch  mos 
quitoes. 

We  sent  for  Hutchins  at  once.  She  was  always  re 
spectful,  but  never  subservient.  She  stood  in  the 
doorway  while  Tish  explained. 

"How  far  north?"  she  said  crisply. 

Tish  told  her.  "We'll  have  no  cut-and-dried  des 
tination,"  she  said.  "  There 's  a  little  steamer  goes  up 
the  river  I  have  in  mind.  We'll  get  off  when  we  see 
a  likely  place." 

"Are  you  going  for  trout  or  bass?" 

Tish  was  rather  uncertain,  but  she  said  bass  on  a 
chance,  and  Hutchins  nodded  her  approval. 

"If  it's  bass,  I'll  go,"  she  said.  "I'm  not  fond 
of  trout-fishing." 

"We  shall  have  a  motor  boat.  Of  course  I  shall 
not  take  the  car." 

Hutchins  agreed  indifferently.  "Don't  you  worry 
about  the  motor  boat,"  she  said.  "Sometimes  they 
go  and  sometimes  they  don't.  And  I'll  help  round 
the  camp;  but  I'll  not  wash  dishes." 

"Why  not?"  Tish  demanded. 

"The  reason  does  n't  really  matter,  does  it?  What 
really  concerns  you  is  the  fact." 

Tish  stared  at  her;  but  instead  of  quailing  before 
Tish's  majestic  eye  she  laughed  a  little. 

"I've  camped  before,"  she  said.  "I'm  very  useful 
about  a  camp.  I  like  to  cook;  but  I  won't  wash 
dishes.  I'd  like,  if  you  don't  mind,  to  see  the  gro 
cery  order  before  it  goes." 

173 


TISH 


Well,  Aggie  likes  to  wash  dishes  if  there  is  plenty 
of  hot  water;  and  Hannah,  Tish's  maid,  refusing  to 
go  with  us  on  account  of  Indians,  it  seemed  wisest  to 
accept  Hutchins's  services. 

Hannah's  defection  was  most  unexpected.  As  soon 
as  we  reached  our  decision,  Tish  ordered  beads  for 
the  Indians;  and  hi  the  evenings  we  strung  neck 
laces,  and  so  on,  while  one  of  us  read  aloud  from  the 
works  of  Cooper.  On  the  second  evening  thus  occu 
pied,  Hannah,  who  is  allowed  to  come  into  Tish's 
sitting-room  in  the  evening  and  knit,  suddenly  burst 
into  tears  and  refused  to  go. 

"My  scalp 's  as  good  to  me  as  it  is  to  anybody,  Miss 
Tish,"  she  said  hysterically;  and  nothing  would  move 
her. 

She  said  she  would  run  no  risk  of  being  cooked  over 
her  own  camp-fire;  and  from  that  time  on  she  would 
gaze  at  Tish  for  long  periods  mournfully,  as  though 
she  wanted  to  remember  how  she  looked  when  she 
was  gone  forever. 

Except  for  Hannah,  everything  moved  smoothly. 
Tish  told  Charlie  Sands  about  the  plan,  and  he  was 
quite  enthusiastic. 

"Great  scheme!"  he  said.  "Eat  a  broiled  black 
bass  for  me.  And  take  the  advice  of  one  who  knows : 
don't  skimp  on  your  fishing-tackle.  Get  the  best.  Go 
light  on  the  canned  goods,  if  necessary;  but  get  the 
best  reels  and  lines  on  the  market.  Nothing  in  life 
hurts  so  much,"  he  said  impressively,  "as  to  get  a 
three-pound  bass  to  the  top  of  the  water  and  have 

174 


TISH  

your  line  break.  I've  had  a  big  fellow  get  away  like 
that  and  chase  me  a  mile  with  its  thumb  on  its  nose." 
This  last,  of  course,  was  purely  figurative. 

He  went  away  whistling.  I  wish  he  had  been  less 
optimistic.  When  we  came  back  and  told  him  the 
whole  story,  and  he  sat  with  his  mouth  open  and  his 
hair,  as  he  said,  crackling  at  the  roots,  I  reminded  him 
with  some  bitterness  that  he  had  encouraged  us.  His 
only  retort  was  to  say  that  the  excursion  itself  had 
been  harmless  enough;  but  that  if  three  elderly  ladies, 
church  members  in  good  standing,  chose  to  become 
freebooters  and  pirates  the  moment  they  got  away 
from  a  corner  policeman,  they  need  not  blame  him. 

The  last  thing  he  said  that  day  in  June  was  about 
fishing- worms . 

"Take  'em  with  you,"  he  said.  "They  charge  a 
cent  apiece  for  them  up  there,  assorted  colors,  and 
there's  something  stolid  and  British  about  a  Cana 
dian  worm.  The  fish  are  n't  crazy  about  'em.  On  the 
other  hand,  our  worms  here  are  —  er  —  vivacious, 
animated.  I've  seen  a  really  brisk  and  on-to-its-job 
United  States  worm  reach  out  and  clutch  a  bass  by 
the  gills." 

I  believe  it  was  the  next  day  that  Tish  went  to  the 
library  and  read  about  worms.  Aggie  and  I  had  spent 
the  day  buying  tackle,  according  to  Charlie  Sands's 
advice.  We  got  some  very  good  rods  with  nickel- 
plated  reels  for  two  dollars  and  a  quarter,  a  dozen 
assorted  hooks  for  each  person,  and  a  dozen  sinkers. 
The  man  wanted  to  sell  us  what  he  called  a  "land- 

175 


TISH 

ing  net,"  but  I  took  a  good  look  at  it  and  pinched 
Aggie. 

"I  can  make  one  out  of  a  barrel  hoop  and  mosquito 
netting,"  I  whispered;  so  we  did  not  buy  it. 

Perhaps  he  thought  we  were  novices,  for  he  insisted 
on  showing  us  all  sorts  of  absurd  things  —  trolling- 
hooks,  he  called  them;  gaff  hooks  for  landing  big  fish; 
and  a  spoon  that  was  certainly  no  spoon  and  did  not 
fool  us  for  a  minute,  being  only  a  few  hooks  and  a  red 
feather.  He  asked  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  for  it! 

[I  made  one  that  night  at  home,  using  a  bit  of  red 
feather  from  a  duster.  It  cost  me  just  three  cents. 
Of  that,  as  of  Hutchins,  more  later.] 

Aggie,  whose  idea  of  Canada  had  been  the  Hotel 
Frontenac,  had  grown  rather  depressed  as  our  prep 
arations  proceeded.  She  insisted  that  night  on  re 
calling  the  fact  that  Mr.  Wiggins  had  been  almost 
drowned  hi  Canada. 

"He  went  with  the  Roof  and  Gutter  Club,  Lizzie," 
she  said,  "and  he  was  a  beautiful  swimmer;  but  the 
water  comes  from  the  North  Pole,  freezing  cold,  and 
the  first  thing  he  knew  — " 

The  telephone  bell  rang  just  then.  It  was  Tish. 

"I've  just  come  from  the  library,  Lizzie,"  she  said. 
"We 'd  better  raise  the  worms.  We Ve  got  a  month  to 
do  it  in.  Hutchins  and  I  will  be  round  with  the  car  at 
eight  o'clock  to-night.  Night  is  the  time  to  get  them." 

She  refused  to  go  into  details,  but  asked  us  to  have 
an  electric  flash  or  two  ready  and  a  couple  of  wooden 
pails.  Also  she  said  to  wear  mackintoshes  and  rubbers. 

176 


TISH 

Just  before  she  rang  off,  she  asked  me  to  see  that  there 
was  a  package  of  oatmeal  on  hand,  but  did  not  explain. 
When  I  told  Aggie  she  eyed  me  miserably. 

"I  wish  she'd  be  either  more  explicit  or  less,"  she 
said.  "We'll  be  arrested  again.  I  know  it!" 

[Now  and  then  Tish's  enthusiasms  have  brought  us 
into  collision  with  the  law  —  not  that  Tish  has  not 
every  respect  for  law  and  order,  but  that  she  is  apt  to 
be  hasty  and  at  times  almost  unconventional.] 

"You  remember,"  said  Aggie,  "that  time  she  tried 
to  shoot  the  sheriff,  thinking  he  was  a  train  robber? 
She  started  just  like  this  —  reading  up  about  walking- 
tours,  and  all  that.  I  —  I'm  nervous,  Lizzie." 

I  was  staying  with  Aggie  for  a  few  days  while  my 
apartment  was  being  papered.  To  soothe  Aggie's 
nerves  I  read  aloud  from  Gibbon's  "Rome"  until 
dinner-time,  and  she  grew  gradually  calmer. 

"After  all,  Lizzie,"  she  said,  "she  can't  get  us  into 
mischief  with  two  wooden  pails  and  a  package  of  oat 
meal." 

Tish  and  Hutchins  came  promptly  at  eight  and  we 
got  into  the  car.  Tish  wore  the  intent  and  dreamy 
look  that  always  preceded  her  enterprises.  There  was 
a  tin  sprinkling-can,  quite  new,  in  the  tonneau,  and 
we  placed  our  wooden  pails  beside  it  and  the  oatmeal 
in  it.  I  confess  I  was  curious,  but  to  my  inquiries  Tish 
made  only  one  reply :  — 

"Worms!" 

Now  I  do  not  like  worms.  I  do  not  like  to  touch 
them.  I  do  not  even  like  to  look  at  them.  As  the 

177 


TISH  

machine  went  along  I  began  to  have  a  creepy  loathing 
of  them.  Aggie  must  have  been  feeling  the  same  way, 
for  when  my  hand  touched  hers  she  squealed. 

Over  her  shoulder  Tish  told  her  plan.  She  said 
it  was  easy  to  get  fishing- worms  at  night  and  that 
Hutchins  knew  of  a  place  a  few  miles  out  of  town 
where  the  family  was  away  and  where  there  would  be 
plenty. 

"We'll  put  them  in  boxes  of  earth,"  she  said,  "and 
feed  them  coffee  or  tea  grounds  one  day  and  oatmeal 
water  the  next.  They  propagate  rapidly.  We '11  have 
a  million  to  take  with  us.  If  we  only  have  a  hundred 
thousand  at  a  cent  apiece,  that's  a  clear  saving  of  a 
thousand  dollars." 

"We  could  sell  some,"  I  suggested  sarcastically; 
for  Tish's  enthusiasms  have  a  way  of  going  wrong. 

But  she  took  me  seriously.  "If  there  are  any  fish 
ing  clubs  about,"  she  said,  "I  dare  say  they'll  buy 
them;  and  we  can  turn  the  money  over  to  Mr.  Oster- 
maier  for  the  new  organ." 

Tish  had  bought  the  organ  and  had  an  evening  con 
cert  with  it  before  we  turned  off  the  main  road  into  a 
private  drive. 

"This  is  the  place,"  Hutchins  said  laconically. 

Tish  got  out  and  took  a  survey.  There  was  shrub 
bery  all  round  and  a  very  large  house,  quite  dark,  in 
the  foreground. 

"  Drive  on  to  the  lawn,  Hutchins,"  she  said.  "  When 
the  worms  come  up,  the  lamps  will  dazzle  them  and 
they'll  be  easy  to  capture." 

178 


TISH  

We  bumped  over  a  gutter  and  came  to  a  stop  in 
the  middle  of  the  lawn. 

"It  would  be  better  if  it  was  raining,"  Tish  said. 
"You  know,  yourself,  Lizzie,  how  they  come  up  dur 
ing  a  gentle  rain.  Give  me  the  sprinkling-can." 

I  do  not  wish  to  lay  undue  blame  on  Hutchins,  who 
was  young;  but  it  was  she  who  suggested  that  there 
would  probably  be  a  garden  hose  somewhere  and  that 
it  would  save  time.  I  know  she  went  with  Tish  round 
the  corner  of  the  house,  and  that  they  returned  in  ten 
minutes  or  so,  dragging  a  hose. 

"I  broke  a  tool-house  window,"  Tish  observed, 
"but  I  left  fifty  cents  on  the  sill  to  replace  it.  It's  at 
tached  at  the  other  end.  Run  back,  Hutchins,  and 
turn  on  the  water ;  but  not  too  much.  We  need  n't 
drown  the  little  creatures." 

Well,  I  have  never  seen  anything  work  better. 
Aggie,  who  had  refused  to  put  a  foot  out  of  the  car, 
stood  up  in  it  and  held  the  hose.  As  fast  as  she  wet 
a  bit  of  lawn,  we  followed  with  the  pails.  I  spread 
my  mackintosh  out  and  knelt  on  it. 

The  thing  took  skill.  The  worms  had  a  way  of 
snapping  back  into  their  holes  like  lightning. 

Tish  got  about  three  to  my  one,  and  talked  about 
packing  them  in  moss  and  ice,  and  feeding  them  every 
other  day.  Hutchins,  however,  stood  on  the  lawn, 
with  her  hands  in  her  pockets,  and  watched  the 
house. 

Suddenly,  without  warning,  Aggie  turned  the 
hose  directly  on  my  left  ear  and  held  it  there. 

179 


TISH  

"There's  somebody  coming!"  she  cried.  "Merci 
ful  Heavens,  what '11 1  do  with  the  hose?" 

"You  can  turn  it  away  from  me!"  I  snapped. 

So  she  did,  and  at  that  instant  a  young  man 
emerged  from  the  shrubbery. 

He  did  not  speak  at  once.  Probably  he  could  not. 
I  happened  to  look  at  Hutchins,  and,  for  all  her 
usual  savoir-faire,  as  Charlie  Sands  called  it,  she  was 
clearly  uncomfortable. 

Tish,  engaged  in  a  struggle  at  that  moment  and 
sitting  back  like  a  robin,  did  not  see  him  at  once. 

"Well!"  said  the  young  man;  and  again:  "Well, 
upon  my  word!" 

He  seemed  out  of  breath  with  surprise;  and  he 
took  off  his  hat  and  mopped  his  head  with  a  handker 
chief.  And,  of  course,  as  though  things  were  not  al 
ready  bad  enough,  Aggie  sneezed  at  that  instant,  as 
she  always  does  when  she  is  excited;  and  for  just  a 
second  the  hose  was  on  him. 

It  was  unexpected  and  he  almost  staggered.  He 
looked  at  all  of  us,  including  Hutchins,  and  ran  his 
handkerchief  round  inside  his  collar.  Then  he  found 
his  voice. 

"Really,"  he  said,  "this  is  awfully  good  of  you. 
We  do  need  rain  —  don't  we?" 

Tish  was  on  her  feet  by  that  time,  but  she  could 
not  think  of  anything  to  say. 

"I'm  sorry  if  I  startled  you,"  said  the  young  man. 
"I  —  I  'm  a  bit  startled  myself." 

"There  is  nothing  to  make  a  fuss  about!"  said 

180 


AS  FAST  AS    SHE  WET  A  BIT  OF   LAWN,  WE   FOLLOWED 
WITH  THE  PAILS 


TISH 

Hutchins  crisply.  "We  are  getting  worms  to  go  fish 
ing." 

"I  see,"  said  the  young  man.  "Quite  natural,  I'm 
sure.  And  where  are  you  going  fishing?" 

Hutchins  surprised  us  all  by  rudely  turning  her 
back  on  him.  Considering  we  were  on  his  property 
and  had  turned  his  own  hose  on  him,  a  little  tact 
would  have  been  better. 

Tish  had  found  her  voice  by  that  time.  "We  broke 
a  window  in  the  tool-house,"  she  said;  "but  I  put 
fifty  cents  on  the  sill." 

"Thank  you,"  said  the  young  man. 

Hutchins  wheeled  at  that  and  stared  at  him  in  the 
most  disagreeable  fashion;  but  he  ignored  her. 

"We  are  trespassing,"  said  Tish;  "but  I  hope  you 
understand.  We  thought  the  family  was  away." 

"I  just  happened  to  be  passing  through,"  he  ex 
plained.  "I'm  awfully  attached  to  the  place  —  for 
various  reasons.  Whenever  I'm  in  town  I  spend  my 
evenings  wandering  through  the  shrubbery  and  re 
membering  —  er  —  happier  days." 

"I  think  the  lamps  are  going  out,"  said  Hutchins 
sharply.  "If  we're  to  get  back  to  town  — " 

"Ah!"  he  broke  in.  "So  you  have  come  out  from 
the  city?" 

"Surely,"  said  Hutchins  to  Tish,  "it  is  unneces 
sary  to  give  this  gentleman  any  information  about 
ourselves!  We  have  done  no  damage  — " 

"Except  the  window,"  he  said. 

"We've  paid  for  that,"  she  said  in  a  nasty  tone; 
181 


TISH 


and  to  Tish:  "How  do  we  know  this  place  is  his? 
He's  probably  some  newspaper  man,  and  if  you  tell 
him  who  you  are  this  whole  thing  will  be  in  the  morn 
ing  paper,  like  the  eggs." 

"I  give  you  my  word  of  honor,"  he  said,  "that  I 
am  nothing  of  the  sort;  in  fact,  if  you  will  give  me  a 
little  time  I'd  —  I'd  like  to  tell  all  about  myself. 
I've  got  a  lot  to  say  that's  highly  interesting,  if 
you'll  only  listen." 

Hutchins,  however,  only  gave  him  a  cold  glance  of 
suspicion  and  put  the  pails  in  the  car.  Then  she  got 
in  and  sat  down. 

"I  take  it,"  he  said  to  her,  "that  you  decline  either 
to  give  or  to  receive  any  information." 

"Absolutely!" 

He  sighed  then,  Aggie  declares. 

"Of  course,"  he  said,  "though  I  haven't  really 
the  slightest  curiosity,  I  could  easily  find  out,  you 
know.  Your  license  plates  — " 

"Are  under  the  cushion  I'm  sitting  on,"  said 
Hutchins,  and  started  the  engine. 

"Really,  Hutchins,"  said  Tish,  "I  don't  see  any 
reason  for  being  so  suspicious.  I  have  always  believed 
in  human  nature  and  seldom  have  I  been  disappointed. 
The  young  man  has  done  nothing  to  justify  rudeness. 
And  since  we  are  trespassing  on  his  place — " 

"Huh!"  was  all  Hutchins  said. 

The  young  man  sauntered  over  to  the  car,  with 
his  hands  thrust  into  this  coat  pockets.  He  was  nice- 
looking,  especially  then,  when  he  was  smiling. 

182 


TISH 


"Hutchins!"  he  said.  "Well,  that's  a  clue  any 
how.  It  —  it 's  an  uncommon  name.  You  did  n't 
happen  to  notice  a  large  *  No-Trespassing!'  sign  by 
the  gate,  did  you?" 

Hutchins  only  looked  ahead  and  ignored  him.  As 
Tish  said  afterward,  we  had  a  good  many  worms, 
anyhow;  and,  as  the  young  man  and  Hutchins  had 
clearly  taken  an  awful  dislike  to  each  other  at  first 
sight,  the  best  way  to  avoid  trouble  was  to  go  home. 
So  she  got  into  the  car.  The  young  man  helped  her 
in  and  took  off  his  hat. 

"Come  out  any  time  you  like,"  he  said  affably. 
"I'm  not  here  at  all  in  the  daytime,  and  the  grounds 
are  really  rather  nice.  Come  out  and  get  some  roses. 
We ' ve  some  pretty  good  ones  —  English  importa 
tions.  If  you  care  to  bring  some  children  from  the 
tenements  out  for  a  picnic,  please  feel  free  to  do  it. 
We 're  not  selfish." 

Hutchins  rudely  started  the  car  before  he  had  fin 
ished;  but  he  ignored  her  and  waved  a  cordial  fare 
well  to  the  rest  of  us. 

"Bring  as  many  as  you  like,"  he  called.  "Sunday 
is  a  good  day.  Ask  Miss  —  Miss  Hutchins  to  come 
out  and  bring  some  friends  along." 

We  drove  back  at  the  most  furious  rate.  Tish  was 
at  last  compelled  to  remonstrate  with  Hutchins. 

"Not  only  are  we  going  too  fast,"  she  said,  "but 
you  were  really  rude  to  that  nice  young  man." 

"I  wish  I  had  turned  the  hose  on  him  and  drowned 
him!"  said  Hutchins  between  her  teeth. 


II 

HUTCHINS  brought  a  newspaper  to  Tish  the  next 
morning  at  breakfast,  and  Tish  afterwards  said  her 
expression  was  positively  malevolent  in  such  a  young 
and  pretty  woman. 

The  newspaper  said  that  an  attempt  had  been 
made  to  rob  the  Newcomb  place  the  night  before, 
but  that  the  thieves  had  apparently  secured  nothing 
but  a  package  of  oatmeal  and  a  tin  sprinkling-can, 
which  they  had  abandoned  on  the  lawn.  Some  color, 
however,  was  lent  to  the  fear  that  they  had  secured 
an  amount  of  money,  from  the  fact  that  a  silver  half- 
dollar  had  been  found  on  the  window  sill  of  a  tool- 
house.  The  Newcomb  family  was  at  its  summer 
home  on  the  Maine  coast. 

"You  see,"  Hutchins  said  to  Tish,  "that  man 
did  n't  belong  there  at  all.  He  was  just  impertinent 
and  —  laughing  in  his  sleeve." 

Tish  was  really  awfully  put  out,  having  planned 
to  take  the  Sunday  school  there  for  a  picnic.  She 
was  much  pleased,  however,  at  Hutchins's  astute 
ness. 

"I  shall  take  her  along  to  Canada,"  she  said  to 
me.  "The  girl  has  instinct,  which  is  better  than 
reason.  Her  subconsciousness  is  unusually  active." 

Looking  back,  as  I  must,  and  knowing  now  all 

184 


TISH  

that  was  in  her  small  head  while  she  whistled  about 
the  car,  or  all  that  was  behind  her  smile,  one  won 
ders  if  women  really  should  have  the  vote.  So  many 
of  them  are  creatures  of  sex  and  guile.  A  word  from 
her  would  have  cleared  up  so  much,  and  she  never 
spoke  it! 

Well,  we  spent  most  of  July  hi  getting  ready  to  go. 
Charlie  Sands  said  the  mosquitoes  and  black  flies 
would  be  gone  by  August,  and  we  were  in  no  hurry. 

We  bought  a  good  tent,  with  a  diagram  of  how  to 
put  it  up,  some  folding  camp-beds,  and  a  stove.  The 
day  we  bought  the  tent  we  had  rather  a  shock,  for 
as  we  left  the  shop  the  suburban  youth  passed  us. 
We  ignored  him  completely,  but  he  lifted  his  hat. 
Hutchins,  who  was  waiting  in  Tish's  car,  saw  him, 
too,  and  went  quite  white  with  fury. 

Shortly  after  that,  Hannah  came  in  one  night  and 
said  that  a  man  was  watching  Tish's  windows.  We 
thought  it  was  imagination,  and  Tish  gave  her  a  dose 
of  sulphur  and  molasses  —  her  liver  being  sluggish. 

"Probably  an  Indian,  I  dare  say,"  was  Tish's 
caustic  comment. 

In  view  of  later  developments,  however,  it  is  a  pity 
we  did  not  investigate  Hannah's  story;  for  Aggie, 
going  home  from  Tish's  late  one  night  in  Tish's  car, 
had  a  similar  experience,  declaring  that  a  small  ma 
chine  had  followed  them,  driven  by  a  heavy-set  man 
with  a  mustache.  She  said,  too,  that  Hutchins,  swerv 
ing  sharply,  had  struck  the  smaller  machine  a  glancing 
blow  and  almost  upset  it. 

185 


TISH  

It  was  about  the  middle  of  July,  I  believe,  that  Tish 
received  the  following  letter :  — 

Madam:  Learning  that  you  have  decided  to  take  a  fish 
ing-trip  in  Canada,  I  venture  to  offer  my  services  as  guide, 
philosopher,  and  friend.  I  know  Canada  thoroughly;  can 
locate  bass,  as  nearly  as  it  lies  in  a  mortal  so  to  do;  can 
manage  a  motor  launch;  am  thoroughly  at  home  in  a  canoe; 
can  shoot,  swim,  and  cook  —  the  last  indifferently  well; 
know  the  Indian  mind  and  my  own  —  and  will  carry 
water  and  chop  wood. 

I  do  not  drink,  and  such  smoking  as  I  do  will,  if  I  am 
engaged,  be  done  in  the  solitude  of  the  woods, 

I  am  young  and  of  a  cheerful  disposition.  My  object  is 
not  money,  but  only  expenses  paid  and  a  chance  to  forget 
a  recent  and  still  poignant  grief.  I  hope  you  will  see  the 
necessity  for  such  an  addition  to  your  party,  and  allow 
me  to  subscribe  myself,  madam, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

J.  UPDIKE. 

Tish  was  much  impressed;  but  Hutchins,  in  whose 
judgment  she  began  to  have  the  greatest  confidence, 
opposed  the  idea. 

"I  would  n't  think  of  it,"  she  said  briefly. 

"Why?  It's  a  frank,  straightforward  letter." 

"He  likes  himself  too  much.  And  you  should  al 
ways  be  suspicious  of  anything  that's  offered  too 
cheap." 

So  the  Updike  application  was  refused.  I  have 
often  wondered  since  what  would  have  been  the  result 
had  we  accepted  it! 

The  worms  were  doing  well,  though  Tish  found  that 
Hannah  neglected  them,  and  was  compelled  to  feed 

186 


TISH  

them  herself.  On  the  day  before  we  started,  we  packed 
them  carefully  in  ice  and  moss,  and  fed  them.  That 
was  the  day  the  European  war  was  declared. 

" Canada  is  at  war,"  Tish  telephoned.  "The  papers 
say  the  whole  country  is  full  of  spies,  blowing  up 
bridges  and  railroads." 

"We  can  still  go  to  the  seashore,"  I  said.  "The 
bead  things  will  do  for  the  missionary  box  to  Africa." 

"  Seashore  nothing ! "  Tish  retorted.  "  We  're  going, 
of  course,  —  just  as  we  planned.  We'll  keep  our  eyes 
open;  that 's  all.  I  'm  not  for  one  side  or  the  other,  but 
a  spy 's  a  spy." 

Later  that  evening  she  called  again  to  say  there  were 
rumors  that  the  Canadian  forests  were  bristling  with 
German  wireless  outfits. 

"I've  a  notion  to  write  J.  Updike,  Lizzie,  and  find 
out  whether  he  knows  anything  about  wireless  teleg 
raphy,"  she  said, "  only  there 's  so  little  time.  Perhaps 
I  can  find  a  book  that  gives  the  code." 

[This  is  only  pertinent  as  showing  Tish's  state  of 
mind.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  she  did  not  write  to 
Updike  at  all.] 

Well,  we  started  at  last,  and  I  must  say  they  let  us 
over  the  border  with  a  glance;  but  they  asked  us 
whether  we  had  any  firearms.  Tish's  trunk  contained 
a  shotgun  and  a  revolver;  but  she  had  packed  over  the 
top  her  most  intimate  personal  belongings,  and  they 
were  not  disturbed. 

"Have  you  any  weapons?"  asked  the  inspector. 

"Do  we  look  like  persons  carrying  weapons?"  Tish 

187 


TISH  

demanded  haughtily.  And  of  course  we  did  not. 
Still,  there  was  an  untruth  of  the  spirit  and  none  of 
us  felt  any  too  comfortable.  Indeed,  what  followed 
may  have  been  a  punishment  on  us  for  deceit  and 
conspiracy. 

Aggie  had  taken  her  cat  along  —  because  it  was  so 
fond  of  fish,  she  said.  And,  between  Tish  buying  ice 
for  the  worms  and  Aggie  getting  milk  for  the  cat,  the 
journey  was  not  monotonous;  but  on  returning  from 
one  of  her  excursions  to  the  baggage-car,  Tish  put  a 
heavy  hand  on  my  shoulder. 

"That  boy's  on  the  train,  Lizzie!"  she  said.  "He 
had  the  impudence  to  ask  me  whether  I  still  drive 
with  the  license  plates  under  a  cushion.  English  roses 
—  importations! "  said  Tish,  and  sniffed.  "  You  don't 
suppose  he  went  into  that  tent  shop  and  asked  about 
us?" 

"He  might,"  I  retorted;  "but,  on  the  other  hand, 
there 's  no  reason  why  our  going  to  Canada  should  keep 
the  rest  of  the  United  States  at  home!" 

However,  the  thing  did  seem  queer,  somehow. 
Why  had  he  told  us  things  that  were  not  so?  Why 
had  he  been  so  anxious  to  know  who  we  were?  Why 
had  he  asked  us  to  take  the  Sunday-school  picnic  to 
a  place  that  did  not  belong  to  him? 

"He  may  be  going  away  to  forget  some  trouble. 
You  remember  what  he  said  about  happier  days," 
said  Tish. 

"That  was  Updike's  reason  too,"  I  replied.  "  Poig 
nant  grief!" 

188 


TISH 


For  just  a  moment  our  eyes  met.  The  same  sus 
picion  had  occurred  to  us  both.  Well,  we  agreed  to 
say  nothing  to  Aggie  or  Hutchins,  for  fear  of  upset 
ting  them,  and  the  next  hour  or  so  was  peaceful. 

Hutchins  read  and  Aggie  slept.  Tish  and  I  strung 
beads  for  the  Indians,  and  watched  the  door  into 
the  next  car.  And,  sure  enough,  about  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  he  appeared  and  stared  in  at  us.  He 
watched  us  for  quite  a  time,  smoking  a  cigarette  as 
he  did  so.  Then  he  came  in  and  bent  down  over  Tish. 

"You  did  n't  take  the  children  out  for  the  picnic, 
did  you?"  he  said. 

"I  did  not!"  Tish  snapped. 

"I'm  sorry.  Never  saw  the  place  look  so  well!" 

"Look  here,"  Tish  said,  putting  down  her  beads; 
"what  were  you  doing  there  that  night  anyhow? 
You  don't  belong  to  the  family." 

He  looked  surprised  and  then  grieved. 

"You've  discovered  that,  have  you?"  he  said. 
"I  did,  you  know  —  word  of  honor!  They've  turned 
me  off;  but  I  love  the  old  place  still,  and  on  summer 
nights  I  wander  about  it,  recalling  happier  days." 

Hutchins  closed  her  book  with  a  snap,  and  he  sighed. 

"I  perceive  that  we  are  overheard,"  he  said. 
"Some  time  I  hope  to  tell  you  the  whole  story.  It's 
extremely  sad.  I'll  not  spoil  the  beginning  of  your 
holiday  with  it." 

All  the  time  he  had  been  talking  he  held  a  piece  of 
paper  in  his  hand.  When  he  left  us  Tish  went  back 
thoughtfully  to  her  beads. 

189 


TISH  

"It  just  shows,  Lizzie,"  she  said,  "how  wrong  we 
are  to  trust  to  appearances.  That  poor  boy  — " 

I  had  stooped  into  the  aisle  and  was  picking  up 
the  piece  of  paper  which  he  had  accidentally  dropped 
as  he  passed  Hutchins.  I  opened  it  and  read  aloud 
to  Tish  and  Aggie,  who  had  wakened :  — 

'Afraid  you'll  not  get  away  with  it!   The  red- 
haired  man  in  the  car  behind  is  a  plain-clothes  man/  ' 

Tish  has  a  large  fund  of  general  knowledge,  gained 
through  Charlie  Sands;  so  what  Aggie  and  I  failed 
to  understand  she  interpreted  at  once. 

"A  plain-clothes  man,"  she  explained,  "is  a  de 
tective  dressed  as  a  gentleman.  It's  as  plain  as  a 
pikestaff!  The  boy's  received  this  warning  and 
dropped  it.  He  has  done  something  he  should  n't  and 
is  escaping  to  Canada!" 

I  do  not  believe,  however,  that  we  should  have 
thought  of  his  being  a  political  spy  but  for  the  con 
ductor  of  the  train.  He  proved  to  be  a  very  nice  per 
son,  with  eight  children  and  a  toupee;  and  he  said 
that  Canada  was  honeycombed  with  spies  in  the  pay 
of  the  German  Government. 

"They're  sending  wireless  messages  all  the  time, 
probably  from  remote  places,"  he  said.  "And,  of 
course,  their  play  now  is  to  blow  up  the  transcon 
tinental  railroads.  Of  course  the  railroads  have  an 
army  of  detectives  on  the  watch." 

"Good  Heavens!"  Aggie  said,  and  turned  pale. 

Well,  our  pleasure  in  the  journey  was  ruined. 
Every  time  the  whistle  blew  on  the  engine  we  quailed, 

190 


TISH  

and  Tish  wrote  her  will  then  and  there  on  the  back 
of  an  envelope.  It  was  while  she  was  writing  that 
the  truth  came  to  her. 

"That  boy!"  she  said.  "Don't  you  see  it  all? 
That  note  was  a  warning  to  him.  He's  a  spy  and  the 
red-haired  man  is  after  him." 

None  of  us  slept  that  night  though  Tish  did  a  very 
courageous  thing  about  eleven  o'clock,  when  she  was 
ready  for  bed.  I  went  with  her.  We  had  put  our  dress 
ing-gowns  over  our  nightrobes,  and  we  went  back  to 
the  car  containing  the  spy. 

He  had  not  retired,  but  was  sitting  alone,  staring 
ahead  moodily.  The  red-haired  man  was  getting 
ready  for  bed,  just  opposite.  Tish  spoke  loudly,  so  the 
detective  should  hear. 

"I  have  come  back,"  Tish  said,  "to  say  that  we 
know  everything.  A  word  to  the  wise,  Mister  Happier 
Days!  Don't  try  any  of  your  tricks!" 

He  sat,  with  his  mouth  quite  open,  and  stared  at  us; 
but  the  red-haired  man  pretended  to  hear  nothing  and 
took  off  his  other  shoe. 

None  of  us  slept  at  all  except  Hutchins.  Though  we 
had  told  her  nothing,  she  seemed  inherently  to  distrust 
the  spy.  When,  on  arriving  at  the  town  where  we  were 
to  take  the  boat,  he  offered  to  help  her  off  with  Aggie's 
cat  basket,  which  she  was  carrying,  she  snubbed  him. 

"I  can  do  it  myself,"  she  said  coldly;  "and  if  you 
know  when  you're  well  off  you'll  go  back  to  where 
you  came  from.  Something  might  happen  to  you  here 
in  the  wilderness." 

191 


TISH 


"I  wish  it  would,"  he  replied  in  quite  a  tragic  man 
ner. 

[As  Tish  said  then,  a  man  is  probably  often  forced 
by  circumstances  into  hateful  situations.  No  spy  can 
really  want  to  be  a  spy  with  every  brick  wall  suggest 
ing,  as  it  must,  a  firing-squad.] 

Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  we  took  the  little 
steamer  that  goes  up  the  river  three  times  a  week 
to  take  groceries  and  mail  to  the  logging-camps,  and 
the  spy  and  the  red-haired  detective  went  along.  The 
spy  seemed  to  have  quite  a  lot  of  luggage,  but  the 
detective  had  only  a  suitcase. 

Tish,  watching  the  detective,  said  his  expression 
grew  more  and  more  anxious  as  we  proceeded  up  the 
river.  Cottages  gave  place  to  logging-camps  and  these 
to  rocky  islands,  with  no  sign  of  life;  still,  the  spy 
stayed  on  the  steamer,  and  so,  of  course,  did  the  de 
tective. 

Tish  went  down  and  examined  the  luggage.  She 
reported  that  the  spy  was  traveling  under  the  name 
of  McDonald  and  that  the  detective's  suitcase  was 
unmarked.  Mrv  McDonald  had  some  boxes  and  a 
green  canoe.  The  detective  had  nothing  at  all.  There 
were  no  other  passengers. 

We  let  Aggie's  cat  out  on  the  boat  and  he  caught 
a  mouse  almost  immediately,  and  laid  it  in  the  most 
touching  manner  at  the  detective's  feet;  but  he  was 
in  a  very  bad  humor  and  flung  it  over  the  rail.  Shortly 
after  that  he  asked  Tish  whether  she  intended  to  go 
to  the  Arctic  Circle. 

192 


TISH  

"I  don't  know  that  that's  any  concern  of  yours," 
Tish  said.  "You're  not  after  me,  you  know." 

He  looked  startled  and  muttered  something  into 
his  mustache. 

"It's  perfectly  clear  what's  wrong  with  him,"  Tish 
said.  "He's  got  to  stick  to  Mr.  McDonald,  and  he 
has  n't  got  a  tent  in  that  suitcase,  or  even  a  blanket. 
I  don't  suppose  he  knows  where  his  next  meal 's  com 
ing  from." 

She  was  probably  right,  for  I  saw  the  crew  of  the 
boat  packing  a  box  or  two  of  crackers  and  an  old 
comfort  into  a  box;  and  Aggie  overheard  the  detec 
tive  say  to  the  captain  that  if  he  would  sell  him  some 
fishhooks  he  would  not  starve  anyhow. 

Tish  found  an  island  that  suited  her  about  three 
o'clock  that  afternoon,  and  we  disembarked.  Mr. 
McDonald  insisted  on  helping  the  crew  with  our 
stuff,  which  they  piled  on  a  large  flat  rock;  but  the 
detective  stood  on  the  upper  deck  and  scowled  down 
at  us.  Tish  suggested  that  he  was  a  woman-hater. 

"They  know  so  many  lawbreaking  women,"  she 
said,  "it's  quite  natural." 

Having  landed  us,  the  boat  went  across  to  another 
island  and  deposited  Mr.  McDonald  and  the  green 
canoe.  Tish,  who  had  talked  about  a  lodge  in  some 
vast  wilderness,  complained  at  that;  but  when  the 
detective  got  off  on  a  little  tongue  of  the  mainland, 
in  sight  of  both  islands,  she  said  the  place  was  getting 
crowded  and  she  had  a  notion  to  go  farther. 

The  first  thing  she  did  was  to  sit  on  a  box  and  open 

193 


TISH  

a  map.  The  Canadian  Pacific  was  only  a  few  miles 
away  through  the  woods! 

Hutchins  proved  herself  a  treasure.  She  could 
work  all  round  the  three  of  us;  she  opened  boxes  and 
a  can  of  beans  for  supper  with  the  same  hatchet,  and 
had  tea  made  and  the  beans  heated  while  Tish  was 
selecting  a  site  for  the  tent. 

But  —  and  I  remembered  this  later  —  she  watched 
the  river  at  intervals,  with  her  cheeks  like  roses  from 
the  exertion.  She  was  really  a  pretty  girl  —  only,  when 
no  one  was  looking,  her  mouth  that  day  had  a  way  of 
setting  itself  firmly,  and  she  frowned  at  the  water. 

We,  Hutchins  and  I,  set  up  the  stove  against  a  large 
rock,  and  when  the  teakettle  started  to  boil  it  gave 
the  river  front  a  homy  look.  Sitting  on  my  folding 
chair  beside  the  stove,  with  a  cup  of  tea  in  my  hand 
and  a  plate  of  beans  on  a  doily  on  a  packing-box 
beside  me,  I  was  entirely  comfortable.  Through  the 
glasses  I  could  see  the  red-haired  man  on  the  other 
shore  sitting  on  a  rock,  with  his  head  in  his  hands;  but 
Mr.  McDonald  had  clearly  located  on  the  other  side 
of  his  island  and  was  not  in  sight. 

Aggie  and  Tish  were  putting  up  the  tent,  and 
Hutchins  was  feeding  the  tea  grounds  to  the  worms, 
which  had  traveled  comfortably,  when  I  saw  a  canoe 
coming  up  the  river.  I  called  to  Tish  about  it. 

"An  Indian!"  she  said  calmly.  "Get  the  beads, 
Aggie;  and  put  my  shotgun  on  that  rock,  where  he  can 
see  it."  She  stood  and  watched  him.  "Primitive  man, 
every  inch  of  him!"  she  went  on.  "Notice  his  un- 

194 


TISH 

covered  head.  Notice  the  freedom,  almost  the  sav 
agery,  of  the  way  he  uses  that  paddle.  I  wish  he  would 
sing.  You  remember,  in  Hiawatha,  how  they  sing 
as  they  paddle  along?" 

She  got  the  beads  and  went  to  the  water's  edge; 
but  the  Indian  stooped  just  then  and,  picking  up  a 
Panama  hat,  put  it  on  his  head. 

"I  have  called,"  he  said,  "to  see  whether  I  can 
interest  you  in  a  set  of  books  I  am  selling.  I  shall 
detain  you  only  a  moment.  Sixty-three  steel  engrav 
ings  by  well-known  artists;  best  hand-made  paper; 
and  the  work  itself  is  of  high  educational  value." 

Tish  suddenly  put  the  beads  behind  her  back  and 
said  we  did  not  expect  to  have  any  time  to  read.  We 
had  come  into  the  wilderness  to  rest  our  minds. 

"You  are  wrong,  I  fear,"  said  the  Indian.  "Per 
sonally  I  find  that  I  can  read  better  in  the  wilds  than 
anywhere  else.  Great  thoughts  in  great  surroundings! 
I  take  Nietzsche  with  me  when  I  go  fishing." 

Tish  had  the  wretched  beads  behind  her  all  the 
time;  and,  to  make  conversation,  more  than  any 
thing  else,  she  asked  about  venison.  He  shrugged 
his  shoulders.  J.  Fenimore  Cooper  had  not  prepared 
us  for  an  Indian  who  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"We  Indians  are  allowed  to  kill  deer,"  he  said; 
"but  I  fear  you  are  prohibited.  I  am  not  even  per 
mitted  to  sell  it." 

"I  should  think,"  said  Tish  sharply,  "that,  since 
we  are  miles  from  a  game  warden,  you  could  safely 
sell  us  a  steak  or  two." 

195 


TISH  

He  gazed  at  her  disapprovingly.  "I  should  not 
care  to  break  the  law,  madam,"  he  said. 

Then  he  picked  up  his  paddle  and  took  himself  and 
his  scruples  and  his  hand-made  paper  and  his  sixty- 
three  steel  engravings  down  the  river. 

"Primitive  man!"  I  said  to  Tish,  from  my  chair. 
"Notice  the  freedom,  almost  the  savagery,  with  which 
he  swings  that  paddle." 

We  had  brought  a  volume  of  Cooper  along,  not  so 
much  to  read  as  to  remind  us  how  to  address  the  In 
dians.  Tish  said  nothing,  but  she  got  the  book  and 
flung  it  far  out  into  the  river. 

There  were  a  number  of  small  annoyances  the  first 
day  or  two.  Hutchins  was  having  trouble  with  the 
motor  launch,  which  the  steamer  had  towed  up  the 
day  we  came,  and  which  she  called  the  "Mebbe." 
And  another  civilized  Indian,  with  a  gold  watch  and 
a  cigarette  case,  had  rented  us  a  leaky  canoe  for  a 
dollar  a  day. 

[We  patched  the  leak  with  chewing  gum,  which 
Aggie  always  carried  for  indigestion;  and  it  did 
fairly  well,  so  long  as  the  gum  lasted.] 

Then,  on  the  second  night,  there  was  a  little  wind, 
and  the  tent  collapsed  on  us,  the  ridgepole  taking 
Aggie  across  the  chest.  It  was  that  same  night,  \. 
think,  when  Aggie's  cat  found  a  porcupine  in  the 
woods,  and  came  in  looking  like  a  pincushion. 

What  with  chopping  firewood  for  the  stove,  and 
carrying  water,  and  baling  out  the  canoe,  and  with 
the  motor  boat  giving  one  gasp  and  then  dying  for 

196 


TISH 

every  hundred  times  somebody  turned  over  the  en 
gine,  we  had  no  time  to  fish  for  two  days. 

The  police  agent  fished  all  day  from  a  rock,  for, 
of  course,  he  had  no  boat ;  but  he  seemed  to  catch 
nothing.  At  times  we  saw  him  digging  frantically,  as 
though  for  worms.  What  he  dug  with  I  do  not  know; 
but,  of  course,  he  got  no  worms.  Tish  said  if  he  had 
been  more  civil  she  would  have  taken  something  to 
him  and  a  can  of  worms;  but  he  had  been  rude,  espe 
cially  to  Aggie's  cat,  and  probably  the  boat  would 
bring  him  things. 

What  with  getting  settled  and  everything,  we  had 
not  much  time  to  think  about  the  spy.  It  was  on  the 
third  day,  I  believe,  that  he  brought  his  green  canoe 
to  the  open  water  in  front  of  us  and  anchored  there, 
just  beyond  earshot. 

He  put  out  a  line  and  opened  a  book;  and  from  that 
time  on  he  was  a  part  of  the  landscape  every  day 
from  10  A.M.  to  4  P.M.  At  noon  he  would  eat  some 
sort  of  a  lunch,  reading  as  he  ate. 

He  apparently  never  looked  toward  us,  but  he  was 
always  there.  It  was  the  most  extraordinary  thing. 
At  first  we  thought  he  had  found  a  remarkable  fishing- 
place;  but  he  seemed  to  catch  very  few  fish.  It  was 
Tish,  I  think,  who  found  the  best  explanation. 

"He's  providing  himself  with  an  alibi,"  she  stated. 
"How  can  he  be  a  spy  when  we  see  him  all  day  long? 
Don't  you  see  how  clever  it  is?" 

It  was  the  more  annoying  because  we  had  arranged 
a  small  cove  for  soap-and-water  bathing,  hanging 

197 


TISH 

up  a  rod  for  bath-towels  and  suspending  a  soap-dish 
and  a  sponge-holder  from  an  overhanging  branch. 
The  cove  was  well  shielded  by  brush  and  rocks  from 
the  island,  but  naturally  was  open  to  the  river. 

It  was  directly  opposite  this  cove  that  Mr.  McDon 
ald  took  up  his  position. 

This  compelled  us  to  bathe  in  the  early  morning, 
while  the  water  was  still  cold,  and  resulted  in  causing 
Aggie  a  most  uncomfortable  half -hour  on  the  fourth 
morning  of  our  stay. 

She  was  the  last  one  in  the  pool,  and  Tish  absent- 
mindedly  took  her  bathrobe  and  slippers  back  to  the 
camp  when  she  went.  Tish  went  out  in  the  canoe 
shortly  after.  She  was  learning  to  use  one,  with  a  life 
preserver  on — Tish,  of  course,  not  the  canoe.  And  Mr. 
McDonald  arriving  soon  after,  Aggie  was  compelled 
to  sit  in  the  water  for  two  hours  and  twenty  minutes. 
When  Hutchins  found  her  she  was  quite  blue. 

This  was  the  only  disagreement  we  had  all  sum 
mer:  Aggie's  refusing  to  speak  to  Tish  that  entire 
day.  She  said  Mr.  McDonald  had  seen  her  head  and 
thought  it  was  some  sort  of  swimming  animal,  and 
had  shot  at  her. 

Mr.  McDonald  said  afterward  he  knew  her  all  the 
time,  and  was  uncertain  whether  she  was  taking  a 
cure  for  something  or  was  trying  to  commit  suicide. 
He  said  he  spent  a  wretched  morning. 

At  five  o'clock  that  evening  we  began  to  hear  a 
curious  tapping  noise  from  the  spy's  island.  It  would 
last  for  a  time,  stop,  and  go  on. 

198 


TISH  

Hutchins  said  it  was  woodpeckers;  but  Tish  looked 
at  me  significantly. 

"Wireless!"  she  said.  "What  did  I  tell  you?" 

That  decided  her  next  move,  for  that  evening  she 
put  some  tea  and  canned  corn  and  a  rubber  blanket 
into  the  canoe;  and  in  fear  and  trembling  I  went  with 
her. 

"It's  going  to  rain,  Lizzie,"  she  said,  "and  after 
all,  that  detective  may  be  surly;  but  he's  doing  his 
duty  by  his  country.  It's  just  as  heroic  to  follow  a 
spy  up  here,  and  starve  to  death  watching  him,  as  it 
is  to  storm  a  trench  —  and  less  showy.  And  I  've 
something  to  tell  him." 

The  canoe  tilted  just  then,  and  only  by  heroic  efforts 
were  we  able  to  calm  it. 

"Then  why  not  go  comfortably  in  the  motor  boat?  " 

Tish  stopped,  her  paddle  in  the  air.  "Because  I 
can't  make  that  dratted  engine  go,"  she  said,  "and 
because  I  believe  Hutchins  would  drown  us  all  before 
she  'd  take  any  help  to  him.  It 's  my  belief  that  she 's 
known  him  somewhere.  I've  seen  her  sit  on  a  rock 
and  look  across  at  him  with  murder  in  her  eyes." 

A  little  wind  had  come  up,  and  the  wretched  canoe 
was  leaking,  the  chewing  gum  having  come  out.  Tish 
was  paddling;  so  I  was  compelled  to  sit  over  the  aper 
ture,  thus  preventing  water  from  coming  in.  Despite 
my  best  efforts,  however,  about  three  inches  seeped 
in  and  washed  about  me.  It  was  quite  uncomfortable. 

The  red-haired  man  was  asleep  when  we  landed. 
He  had  hung  the  comfort  over  a  branch,  like  a  tent, 

199 


TISH  

and  built  a  fire  at  the  end  of  it.  He  had  his  overcoat 
on,  buttoned  to  the  chin,  and  his  head  was  on  his  suit 
case.  He  sat  up  and  looked  at  us,  blinking. 

"We've  brought  you  some  tea  and  some  canned 
corn,"  Tish  said;  "and  a  rubber  blanket.  It's  going 
to  rain." 

He  slid  out  of  the  tent,  feet  first,  and  got  up;  but 
when  he  tried  to  speak  he  sneezed.  He  had  a  terrible 
cold. 

"I  might  as  well  say  at  once,"  Tish  went  on,  "that 
we  know  why  you  are  here  — " 

"The  deuce  you  do!"  he  said  hoarsely. 

"We  do  not  particularly  care  about  you,  especially 
since  the  way  you  acted  to  a  friendly  and  innocent  cat 

—  one  can  always  judge  a  man  by  the  way  he  treats 
dumb  animals;  but  we  sympathize  with  your  errand. 
We'll  even  help  if  we  can." 

"Then  the  —  the  person  in  question  has  confided 
in  you?" 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Tish  loftily.  "I  hope  we  can  put 
two  and  two  together.  Have  you  got  a  revolver?" 

He  looked  startled  at  that.  "I  have  one,"  he  said; 
"but  I  guess  I'll  not  need  it.  The  first  night  or  two  a 
skunk  hung  round;  two,  in  fact  —  mother  and  child 

—  but  I  think  they're  gone." 
"Would  you  like  some  fish?" 
"My  God,  no!" 

This  is  a  truthful  narrative.  That  is  exactly  what 
he  said. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I  do  need,  ladies,"  he  went  on: 
200 


TISH 

"If  you've  got  a  spare  suit  of  underwear  over  there, 
I  could  use  it.  It 'd  stretch,  probably.  And  I'd  like  a 
pen  and  some  ink.  I  must  have  lost  my  fountain  pen 
out  of  my  pocket  stooping  over  the  bank  to  wash  my 
face." 

"Do  you  know  the  wireless  code? "  Tish  asked  sud 
denly. 

"Wireless?" 

"I  have  every  reason  to  believe,"  she  said  impres 
sively,  "that  one  of  the  great  trees  on  that  island  con 
ceals  a  wireless  outfit." 

"I  see!"  He  edged  back  a  little  from  us  both. 

"I  should  think,"  Tish  said,  eyeing  him,  "that  a 
knowledge  of  the  wireless  code  would  be  essential  to 
you  in  your  occupation." 

"We  —  we  get  a  smattering  of  all  sorts  of  things," 
he  said;  but  he  was  uneasy  —  you  could  see  that  with 
half  an  eye. 

He  accompanied  us  down  to  the  canoe;  but  once, 
when  Tish  turned  suddenly,  he  ducked  back  as  though 
he  had  been  struck  and  changed  color.  He  thanked 
us  for  the  tea  and  corn,  and  said  he  wished  we  had 
a  spare  razor  —  but,  of  course,  he  supposed  not. 
Then:  — 

"I  suppose  the  —  the  person  in  question  will  stay 
as  long  as  you  do?"  he  asked,  rather  nervously. 

"It  looks  like  it,"  said  Tish  grimly.  "I've  no  in 
tention  of  being  driven  away,  if  that's  what  you 
mean.  We'll  stay  as  long  as  the  fishing's  good." 

He  groaned  under  his  breath.  "The  whole  d d 

201 


TISH 


river  is  full  of  fish,"  he  said.  "They  crawled  up  the 
bank  last  night  and  ate  all  the  crackers  I  'd  saved  for 
to-day.  Oh,  I'll  pay  somebody  out  for  this,  all  right! 
Good  gracious,  ladies,  your  boat's  full  of  water!" 

"It  has  a  hole  in  it,"  Tish  replied  and  upturned  it 
to  empty  it. 

When  he  saw  the  hole  his  eyes  stuck  out.  "You 
can't  go  out  in  that  leaky  canoe!  It's  suicidal!" 

"Not  at  all,"  Tish  assured  him.  "My  friend  here 
will  sit  on  the  leak.  Get  in  quick,  Lizzie.  It's  filling." 

The  last  we  saw  of  the  detective  that  night  he  was 
standing  on  the  bank,  staring  after  us.  Afterward, 
when  a  good  many  things  were  cleared  up,  he  said  he 
decided  that  he  'd  been  asleep  and  dreamed  the  whole 
thing  —  the  wireless,  and  my  sitting  on  the  hole  in 
the  canoe,  and  the  wind  tossing  it  about,  and  every 
thing  —  only,  of  course,  there  was  the  tea  and  the 
canned  corn! 

We  did  our  first  fishing  the  next  day.  Hutchins  had 
got  the  motor  boat  going,  and  I  put  over  the  spoon  I 
had  made  from  the  feather  duster.  After  going  a  mile 
or  so  slowly  I  felt  a  tug,  and  on  drawing  my  line  in  I 
found  I  had  captured  a  large  fish.  I  wrapped  the  line 
about  a  part  of  the  engine  and  Tish  put  the  barrel 
hoop  with  the  netting  underneath  it.  The  fish  was 
really  quite  large  —  about  four  feet,  I  think  —  and 
it  broke  through  the  netting.  I  wished  to  hit  it  with 
the  oar,  but  Hutchins  said  that  might  break  the  line 
and  free  it.  Unluckily  we  had  not  brought  Tish's  gun, 
or  we  might  have  shot  it. 

202 


TISH 

At  last  we  turned  the  boat  round  and  went  home, 
the  fish  swimming  alongside,  with  its  mouth  open. 
And  there  Aggie,  who  is  occasionally  almost  inspired, 
landed  the  fish  by  the  simple  expedient  of  getting  out 
of  the  boat,  taking  the  line  up  a  bank  and  wrapping 
it  round  a  tree.  By  all  pulling  together  we  landed  the 
fish  successfully.  It  was  forty-nine  inches  by  Tish's 
tape  measure. 

Tish  did  not  sleep  well  that  night.  She  dreamed 
that  the  fish  had  a  red  mustache  and  was  a  spy  in  dis 
guise.  When  she  woke  she  declared  there  was  some 
body  prowling  round  the  tent. 

She  got  her  shotgun  and  we  all  sat  up  in  bed  for  an 
hour  or  so. 

Nothing  happened,  however,  except  that  Aggie 
cried  out  that  there  was  a  small  animal  just  inside  the 
door  of  the  tent.  We  could  see  it,  too,  though  faintly. 
Tish  turned  the  shotgun  on  it  and  it  disappeared;  but 
the  next  morning  she  found  she  had  shot  one  of  her 
shoes  to  pieces. 


Ill 

IT  was  the  day  Tish  began  her  diary  that  we  discov 
ered  the  red-haired  man's  signal.  Tish  was  compelled 
to  remain  at  home  most  of  the  day,  breaking  in  an 
other  pair  of  shoes,  and  she  amused  herself  by  watch 
ing  the  river  and  writing  down  interesting  things. 
She  had  read  somewhere  of  the  value  of  such  records 
of  impressions :  — 

10  A.M.  Gull  on  rock.  Very  pretty.  Frightened  away 
by  the  McDonald  person,  who  has  just  taken  up  his  cus 
tomary  position.  Is  he  reading  or  watching  this  camp? 

10.22.  Detective  is  breakfasting  —  through  glasses,  he  is 
eating  canned  corn.  Aggie  —  pickerel,  from  bank. 

10.40.  Aggie's  cat,  beside  her,  has  caught  a  small  fish. 
Aggie  declares  that  the  cat  stole  one  of  her  worms  and  held 
it  in  the  water.  I  think  she  is  mistaken. 

11.  Most  extraordinary  thing  —  Hutchins  has  asked 
permission  to  take  pen  and  ink  across  to  the  detective! 
Have  consented. 

11.20.  Hutchins  is  still  across  the  river.  If  I  did  not 
know  differently  I  should  say  she  and  the  detective  are 
quarreling.  He  is  whittling  something.  Through  glasses 
she  appears  to  stamp  her  foot. 

1 1 .30.  Aggie  has  captured  a  small  sunfish.  Hutchins  is  still 
across  the  river.  He  seems  to  be  appealing  to  her  for  some 
thing — possibly  the  underwear.  We  have  none  to  spare. 

11.40.  Hutchins  is  an  extraordinary  girl.  She  hates  men, 
evidently.  She  has  had  some  sort  of  quarrel  with  the  detec 
tive  and  has  returned  flushed  with  battle.  Mr.  McDonald 
called  to  her  as  she  passed,  but  she  ignored  him. 

204 


TISH 

12,  noon.  Really,  there  is  something  mysterious  about 
all  this.  The  detective  was  evidently  whittling  a  flagpole. 
He  has  erected  it  now,  with  a  red  silk  handkerchief  at  end. 
It  hangs  out  over  the  water.  Aggie  —  bass,  but  under  legal 
size. 

12.15  P.M.  The  flag  puzzles  Hutchins.  She  is  covertly 
watching  it.  It  is  evidently  a  signal  —  but  to  whom?  Are 
the  secret-service  men  closing  in  on  McDonald? 

1.  Aggie  —  pike! 

2.  On  consulting  map  find  unnamed  lake  only  a  few 
miles  away.  Shall  investigate  to-morrow. 

3.  Steamer  has  just  gone.    Detective  now  has  canoe, 
blue  in  color.  Also  food.  He  sent  off  his  letter. 

4.  Fed  worms.  Lizzie  thinks  they  know  me.  How  kind 
ness  is  its  own  reward!  Mr.  McDonald  is  drawing  in  his 
anchor,  which  is  a  large  stone  fastened  to  a  rope.    Shall 
take  bath. 

Tish's  notes  ended  here.  She  did  not  take  the  bath 
after  all,  for  Mr.  McDonald  made  us  a  call  that  after 
noon. 

He  beached  the  green  canoe  and  came  up  the 
rocks  calmly  and  smilingly.  Hutchins  gave  him  a 
cold  glance  and  went  on  with  what  she  was  doing, 
which  was  chopping  a  plank  to  cook  the  fish  on.  He 
bowed  cheerfully  to  all  of  us  and  laid  a  string  of  fish 
on  a  rock. 

"I  brought  a  little  offering,"  he  said,  looking  at 
Hutchins's  back.  "  The  fishing  is  n't  what  I  expected ; 
but  if  the  young  lady  with  the  hatchet  will  desist,  so 
I  can  make  myself  heard,  I've  found  a  place  where 
there  are  fish!  This  biggest  fellow  is  three  and  a 
quarter  pounds." 

205 


TISH  

Hutchins  chopped  harder  than  ever,  and  the  plank 
flew  up,  striking  her  in  the  chest;  but  she  refused  all 
assistance,  especially  from  Mr.  McDonald,  who  was 
really  concerned.  He  hurried  to  her  and  took  the 
hatchet  out  of  her  hand,  but  in  his  excitement  he  was 
almost  uncivil. 

"You  obstinate  little  idiot!"  he  said.  "You'll  kill 
yourself  yet." 

To  my  surprise,  Hutchins,  who  had  been  entirely 
unemotional  right  along,  suddenly  burst  into  tears 
and  went  into  the  tent.  Mr.  McDonald  took  a  hasty 
step  or  two  after  her,  realizing,  no  doubt,  that  he  had 
said  more  than  he  should  to  a  complete  stranger;  but 
she  closed  the  fly  of  the  tent  quite  viciously  and  left 
him  standing,  with  his  arms  folded,  staring  at  it. 

It  was  at  that  moment  he  saw  the  large  fish,  hang 
ing  from  a  tree.  He  stood  for  a  moment  staring  at  it 
and  we  could  see  that  he  was  quite  surprised. 

"It  is  a  fish,  is  n't  it?"  he  said  after  a  moment.  "I 
• — I  thought  for  a  moment  it  was  painted  on  some 
thing." 

He  sat  down  suddenly  on  one  of  our  folding-chairs 
and  looked  at  the  fish,  and  then  at  each  of  us  in  turn. 

"You  know,"  he  said,  "I  did  n't  think  there  were 
such  fish!  I  —  you  mustn't  mind  my  surprise."  He 
wiped  his  forehead  with  his  handkerchief.  "Just  kick 
those  things  I  brought  into  the  river,  will  you?  I 
apologize  for  them." 

"Forty-nine  inches,"  Tish  said.  "We  expect  to  do 
better  when  we  really  get  started.  This  evening  we 

206 


TISH 

shall  go  after  its  mate,  which  is  probably  hanging 
round." 

"Its  mate?  "he  said,  rather  dazed.  "Oh,  I  see.  Of 
course ! " 

He  still  seemed  to  doubt  his  senses,  for  he  went 
over  and  touched  it  with  his  finger.  "Ladies,"  he 
said,  "  I  'm  not  going  after  the  —  the  mate.  I  could  n't 
land  it  if  I  did  get  it.  I  am  going  to  retire  from  the 
game  —  except  for  food;  but  I  wish,  for  the  sake  of 
my  reason,  you  'd  tell  me  what  you  caught  it  with." 

Well,  you  may  heartily  distrust  a  person;  but  that 
is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  answer  a  simple 
question.  So  I  showed  him  the  thing  I  had  made  — 
and  he  did  not  believe  me! 

"You're  perfectly  right,"  he  said.  "Every  game 
has  its  secrets.  I  had  no  business  to  ask.  But  you 
haven't  caught  me  with  that  feather-duster  thing 
any  more  than  you  caught  that  fish  with  it.  I  don't 
mind  your  not  telling  me.  That's  your  privilege.  But 
is  n't  it  rather  rubbing  it  in  to  make  fun  of  me?" 

"Nothing  of  the  sort ! "  Aggie  said  angrily.  "If  you 
had  caught  it  — " 

"My  dear  lady,"  he  said,  "I  could  n't  have  caught 
it !  The  mere  shock  of  getting  such  a  bite  would  have 
sent  me  out  of  my  boat  in  a  swoon."  He  turned  to 
Tish.  "I  have  only  one  disappointment,"  he  said, 
"that  it  was  n't  one  of  our  worms  that  did  the  work." 

Tish  said  afterward  she  was  positively  sorry  for 
him,  he  looked  so  crestfallen.  So  when  he  started  for 
his  canoe  she  followed  him. 

207 


TISH  

"Look  here,"  she  said;  "you're  young,  and  I  don't 
want  to  see  you  get  into  trouble.  Go  home,  young 
man!  There  are  plenty  of  others  to  take  your  place." 

He  looked  rather  startled.  "That's  it  exactly,"  he 
said,  after  a  moment.  "As  well  as  I  can  make  out 
there  are  about  a  hundred.  If  you  think,"  he  said 
fiercely,  raising  his  voice,  "that  I'm  going  to  back 
out  and  let  somebody  else  in,  I'm  not.  And  that's 
flat." 

"It's  a  life-and-death  matter,"  said  Tish. 

"You  bet  it's  a  life-and-death  matter." 

"And  —  what  about  the  —  the  red-headed  man 
over  there?" 

His  reply  amazed  us  all.  "He's  harmless,"  he  said. 
"I  don't  like  him,  naturally;  but  I  admire  the  way  he 
holds  on.  He's  making  the  best  of  a  bad  business." 

"Do  you  know  why  he's  here?" 

He  looked  uneasy  for  once.  "Well,  I've  got  a  the 
ory,"  he  replied;  but,  though  his  voice  was  calm,  he 
changed  color. 

"Then  perhaps  you'll  tell  me  what  that  signal 
means?" 

Tish  gave  him  the  glasses  and  he  saw  the  red  flag. 
I  have  never  seen  a  man  look  so  unhappy. 

"Holy  cats!"  he  said,  and  almost  dropped  the 
glasses.  "Why,  he  —  he  must  be  expecting  some 
body!" 

"So  I  should  imagine,"  Tish  commented  dryly. 
"He  sent  a  letter  by  the  boat  to-day." 

"The  h— 1  he  did ! "  And  then :  " That 's  ridiculous ! 

208 


TISH  

You  're  mistaken.  As  a  —  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  went 
over  there  the  other  night  and  commandeered  his 
fountain  pen." 

So  it  had  not  fallen  out  of  his  pocket! 

"I'll  be  frank,  ladies,"  he  said.  "It's  my  object 
just  now  to  keep  that  chap  from  writing  letters.  It 
does  n't  matter  why,  but  it's  vital." 

He  was  horribly  cast  down  when  we  told  him  about 
Hutchins  and  the  pen  and  ink. 

"So  that's  it!"  he  said  gloomily.  "And  the  flag's 
a  signal,  of  course.  Ladies,  you  have  done  it  out  of 
the  kindness  of  your  hearts,  I  know;  but  I  think  you 
have  wrecked  my  life." 

He  took  a  gloomy  departure  and  left  us  all  rather 
wrought  up.  Who  were  we,  as  Tish  said,  to  imperil  a 
fellow  man?  And  another  thing  —  if  there  was  a 
reward  on  him,  why  should  we  give  it  to  a  red-haired 
detective,  who  was  rude  to  harmless  animals  and  ate 
canned  corn  for  breakfast? 

With  her  customary  acumen  Tish  solved  the  diffi 
culty  that  very  evening. 

"The  simplest  thing,"  she  said,  "of  course,  would 
be  to  go  over  during  the  night  and  take  the  flag  away; 
but  he  may  have  more  red  handkerchiefs.  Then,  too, 
he  seems  to  be  a  light  sleeper,  and  it  would  be  awk 
ward  to  have  him  shoot  at  us." 

She  sat  in  thought  for  quite  a  while.  Hutchins  was 
watching  the  sunset,  and  seemed  depressed  and  silent. 
Tish  lowered  her  voice. 

"There's  no  reason  why  we  should  n't  have  a  red 
209 


TISH 


flag,  too,"  she  said.  "It  gives  us  an  even  chance  to 
get  in  on  whatever  is  about  to  happen.  We  can  warn 
Mr.  McDonald,  for  one  thing,  if  any  one  comes  here. 
Personally  I  think  he  is  unjustly  suspected." 

[But  Tish  was  to  change  her  mind  very  soon.] 

We  made  the  flag  that  night,  by  lantern  light,  out 
of  Tish's  red  silk  petticoat.  Hutchins  was  curious,  I 
am  sure;  but  we  explained  nothing.  And  we  fastened 
it  obliquely  over  the  river,  like  the  one  on  the  other 
side. 

Tish's  change  of  heart,  which  occurred  the  next 
morning,  was  due  to  a  most  unfortunate  accident  that 
happened  to  her  at  nine  o'clock.  Hutchins,  who  could 
swim  like  a  duck,  was  teaching  Tish  to  swim,  and  she 
was  learning  nicely.  Tish  had  put  a  life-preserver  on, 
with  a  clothes-line  fastened  to  it,  and  Aggie  was  sitting 
on  the  bank  holding  the  rope  while  she  went  through 
the  various  gestures. 

Having  completed  the  lesson  Hutchins  went  into 
the  woods  for  red  raspberries,  leaving  Tish  still  prac 
ticing  in  the  water  with  Aggie  holding  the  rope.  Hap 
pening  to  sneeze,  the  line  slipped  out  of  her  hand,  and 
she  had  the  agonizing  experience  of  seeing  Tish  carried 
away  by  the  current. 

I  was  washing  some  clothing  in  the  river  a  few 
yards  down  the  stream  when  Tish  came  floating  past. 
I  shall  never  forget  her  expression  or  my  own  sense 
of  absolute  helplessness. 

"  Get  the  canoe,"  said  Tish, "  and  follow.  I  'm  head 
ing  for  Island  Eleven." 

210 


GET  THE  CANOE  AND  FOLLOW.    I'M  HEADING 
FOR  ISLAND  ELEVEN" 


TISH  

She  was  quite  calm,  though  pale;  but,  in  her  anxiety 
to  keep  well  above  the  water,  she  did  what  was  almost 
a  fatal  thing  —  she  pushed  the  life-preserver  lower 
down  round  her  body.  And  having  shifted  the  float 
ing  center,  so  to  speak,  without  warning  her  head 
disappeared  and  her  feet  rose  in  the  air. 

For  a  time  it  looked  as  though  she  would  drown  in 
that  position;  but  Tish  rarely  loses  her  presence  of 
mind.  She  said  she  knew  at  once  what  was  wrong. 
So,  though  somewhat  handicapped  by  the  position, 
she  replaced  the  cork  belt  under  her  arms  and  emerged 
at  last. 

Aggie  had  started  back  into  the  woods  forHutchins; 
but,  with  one  thing  and  another,  it  was  almost  ten 
before  they  returned  together.  Tish  by  that  time  was 
only  a  dot  on  the  horizon  through  the  binocular, 
having  missed  Island  Eleven,  as  she  explained  later, 
by  the  rope  being  caught  on  a  submerged  log,  which 
deflected  her  course. 

We  got  into  the  motor  boat  and  followed  her,  and, 
except  for  a  most  unjust  sense  of  irritation  that  I  had 
not  drowned  myself  by  following  her  in  the  canoe, 
she  was  unharmed.  We  got  her  into  the  motor  boat 
and  into  a  blanket,  and  Aggie  gave  her  some  black 
berry  cordial  at  once.  It  was  some  time  before  her 
teeth  ceased  chattering  so  she  could  speak.  When  she 
did  it  was  to  announce  that  she  had  made  a  discovery. 

"He 's  a  spy,  all  right ! "  she  said.  "  And  that  Indian 
is  another.  Neither  of  them  saw  me  as  I  floated  past. 
They  were  on  Island  Eleven.  Mr.  McDonald  wrote 

211 


TISH  

something  and  gave  it  to  the  Indian.  It  was  n't  a 
letter  or  he'd  have  sent  it  by  the  boat.  He  did  n't 
even  put  it  in  an  envelope,  so  far  as  I  could  see.  It's 
probably  in  cipher." 

Well,  we  took  her  home,  and  she  had  a  boiled  egg 
at  dinner. 

The  rest  of  us  had  fish.  It  is  one  of  Tish's  theories 
that  fish  should  only  be  captured  for  food,  and  that 
all  fish  caught  must  be  eaten.  I  do  not  know  when  I 
have  seen  fish  come  as  easy.  Perhaps  it  was  the 
worms,  which  had  grown  both  long  and  fat,  so  that 
one  was  too  much  for  a  hook;  and  we  cut  them  with 
scissors,  like  tape  or  ribbon.  Aggie  and  I  finally  got 
so  sick  of  fish  that  while  Tish's  head  was  turned  we 
dropped  in  our  lines  without  bait.  But,  even  at  that, 
Aggie,  reeling  in  her  line  to  go  home,  caught  a  three- 
pound  bass  through  the  gills  and  could  not  shake  it  off. 

We  tried  to  persuade  Tish  to  lie  down  that  after 
noon,  but  she  refused. 

"I'm  not  sick,"  she  said,  "even  if  you  two  idiots 
did  try  to  drown  me.  And  I  'm  on  the  track  of  some 
thing.  If  that  was  a  letter,  why  did  n't  he  send  it  by 
the  boat?" 

Just  then  her  eye  fell  on  the  flagpole,  and  we  fol 
lowed  her  horrified  gaze.  The  flag  had  been  neatly 
cut  away! 

Tish's  eyes  narrowed.  She  looked  positively  dan 
gerous;  and  within  five  minutes  she  had  cut  another 
flag  out  of  the  back  breadth  of  the  petticoat  and  flung 
it  defiantly  in  the  air.  Who  had  cut  away  the  signal 

212 


TISH  

—  McDonald  or  the  detective?  We  had  planned  to 
investigate  the  nameless  lake  that  afternoon,  Tish 
being  like  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  her  thirst  for  informa 
tion,  as  well  as  in  the  grim  pugnacity  that  is  her  dom 
inant  characteristic;  but  at  the  last  minute  she  de 
cided  not  to  go. 

"You  and  Aggie  go,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "I've  got 
something  on  hand." 

"Tish!"  Aggie  wailed.  "You'll  drown  yourself  or 
something." 

"Don't  be  a  fool!"  Tish  snapped.  "There's  a  por 
tage,  but  you  and  Lizzie  can  carry  the  canoe  across  on 
your  heads.  I've  seen  pictures  of  it.  It's  easy.  And 
keep  your  eyes  open  for  a  wireless  outfit.  There's  one 
about,  that's  sure!" 

"Lots  of  good  it  will  do  to  keep  our  eyes  open,"  I 
said  with  some  bitterness,  "with  our  heads  inside  the 
canoe!" 

We  finally  started  and  Hutchins  went  with  us.  It 
was  Hutchins,  too,  who  voiced  the  way  we  all  felt 
when  we  had  crossed  the  river  and  were  preparing  for 
what  she  called  the  portage. 

"She  wants  to  get  us  out  of  the  way,  Miss  Lizzie," 
she  said.  "Can  you  imagine  what  mischief  she's  up 
to?" 

"That  is  not  a  polite  way  to  speak  of  Miss  Tish, 
Hutchins,"  I  said  coldly.  Nevertheless,  my  heart 
sank. 

Hutchins  and  I  carried  the  canoe.  It  was  a  hot  day 
and  there  was  no  path.  Aggie,  who  likes  a  cup  of  hot 

213 


TISH 


tea  at  five  o'clock,  had  brought  along  a  bottle  filled 
with  tea,  and  a  small  basket  containing  sugar  and  cups. 

Personally  I  never  had  less  curiosity  about  a  lake. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  I  wished  there  was  no  lake.  Twice 
—  being  obliged,  as  it  were,  to  walk  blindly  and  the 
canoe  being  excessively  heavy  —  I,  who  led  the  way, 
ran  the  front  end  of  the  thing  against  the  trunk  of  a 
tree,  and  both  Hutchins  and  I  sat  down  violently 
under  the  canoe  as  a  result  of  the  impact. 

To  add  to  the  discomfort  of  the  situation  Aggie  de 
clared  that  we  were  being  followed  by  a  bear,  and  at 
the  same  instant  stepped  into  a  swamp  up  to  her 
knees.  She  became  calm  at  once,  with  the  calmness  of 
despair. 

"Go  and  leave  me,  Lizzie!"  she  said.  "He  is  just 
behind  those  bushes.  I  may  sink  before  he  gets  me  — 
that's  one  comfort." 

Hutchins  found  a  log  and,  standing  on  it,  tried  to 
pull  her  up;  but  she  seemed  firmly  fastened.  Aggie 
went  quite  white;  and,  almost  beside  myself,'  I  poured 
her  a  cup  of  hot  tea,  which  she  drank.  I  remember 
she  murmured  Mr.  Wiggins's  name,  and  immediately 
after  she  yelled  that  the  bear  was  coming. 

It  was,  however,  the  detective  who  emerged  from 
the  bushes.  He  got  Aggie  out  with  one  good  heave, 
leaving  both  her  shoes  gone  forever;  and  while  she 
collapsed,  whimpering,  he  folded  his  arms  and  stared 
at  all  of  us  angrily. 

"What  sort  of  damnable  idiocy  is  this?"  he  de 
manded  in  a  most  unpleasant  tone. 

214 


TISH  

Aggie  revived  and  sat  upright. 

"That's  our  affair,  is  n't  it?  "  said  Hutchins  curtly. 

"  Not  by  a  blamed  sight ! "  was  his  astonishing  reply. 

"The  next  time  I  am  sinking  in  a  morass,  let  me 
sink,"  Aggie  said,  with  simple  dignity. 

He  did  not  speak  another  word,  but  gave  each  of 
us  a  glance  of  the  most  deadly  contempt,  and  finished 
up  with  Hutchins. 

"What  I  don't  understand,"  he  said  furiously,  "is 
why  you  have  to  lend  yourself  to  this  senile  idiocy. 
Because  some  old  women  choose  to  sink  themselves 
in  a  swamp  is  no  reason  why  you  should  commit 
suicide!" 

Aggie  said  afterward  only  the  recollection  that  he 
had  saved  her  life  prevented  her  emptying  the  tea  on 
him.  I  should  hardly  have  known  Hutchins. 

"Naturally,"  she  said  in  a  voice  thick  with  fury, 
"you  are  in  a  position  to  insult  these  ladies,  and  you 
do.  But  I  warn  you,  if  you  intend  to  keep  on,  this 
swamp  is  nothing.  We  like  it  here.  We  may  stay  for 
months.  I  hope  you  have  your  life  insured." 

Perhaps  we  should  have  understood  it  all  then.  Of 
course  Charlie  Sands,  for  whom  I  am  writing  this,  will 
by  this  time,  with  his  keen  mind,  comprehend  it  all; 
but  I  assure  you  we  suspected  nothing. 

How  simple,  when  you  line  it  up:  The  country 
house  and  the  garden  hose ;  the  detective,  with  no  camp 
equipment;  Mr.  McDonald  and  the  green  canoe; 
the  letter  on  the  train;  the  red  flag;  the  girl  in  the 
pink  tam-o'-shanter  —  who  has  not  yet  appeared, 

215 


TISH  

but  will  shortly;  Mr.  McDonald's  incriminating  list 
—  also  not  yet,  but  soon. 

How  inevitably  they  led  to  what  Charlie  Sands  has 
called  our  crime! 

The  detective,  who  was  evidently  very  strong,  only 
glared  at  her.  Then  he  swung  the  canoe  up  on  his 
head  and,  turning  about,  started  back  the  way  we 
had  come.  Though  Hutchins  and  Aggie  were  raging, 
I  was  resigned.  My  neck  was  stiff  and  my  shoulders 
ached.  We  finished  our  tea  in  silence  and  then  made 
our  way  back  to  the  river. 

I  have  now  reached  Tish's  adventure.  It  is  not  my 
intention  in  this  record  to  defend  Tish.  She  thought 
her  conclusions  were  correct.  Charlie  Sands  says  she 
is  like  Shaw  —  she  has  got  a  crooked  point  of  view, 
but  she  believes  she  is  seeing  straight.  And,  after  a 
while,  if  you  look  her  way  long  enough  you  get  a  sort 
of  mental  astigmatism. 

So  I  shall  confess  at  once  that,  at  the  time,  I  saw 
nothing  immoral  in  what  she  did  that  afternoon  while 
we  were  having  our  adventure  in  the  swamp. 

I  was  putting  cloths  wrung  out  of  arnica  and  hot 
water  on  my  neck  when  she  came  home,  and  Hutchins 
was  baking  biscuit  —  she  was  a  marvelous  cook, 
though  Aggie,  who  washed  the  dishes,  objected  to  the 
number  of  pans  she  used. 

Tish  ignored  both  my  neck  and  the  biscuits,  and, 
marching  up  the  bank,  got  her  shotgun  from  the  tent 
and  loaded  it. 

"  We  may  be  attacked  at  any  time,"  she  said  briefly; 
216 


TISH 


and,  getting  the  binocular,  she  searched  the  river  with 
a  splendid  sweeping  glance.  "At  any  time.  Hutchins, 
take  these  glasses,  please,  and  watch  that  we  are  not 
disturbed." 

"I'm  baking  biscuit,  Miss  Letitia." 

"Biscuit!"  said  Tish  scornfully.  "Biscuit  in  times 
like  these?" 

She  walked  up  to  the  camp  stove  and  threw  the 
oven  door  open;  but,  though  I  believe  she  had  meant 
to  fling  them  into  the  river,  she  changed  her  mind 
when  she  saw  them. 

"Open  a  jar  of  honey,  Hutchins,"  she  said,  and 
closed  the  oven;  but  her  voice  was  abstracted.  "You 
can  watch  the  river  from  the  stove,  Hutchins,"  she 
went  on.  "Miss  Aggie  and  Miss  Lizzie  and  I  must 
confer  together." 

So  we  went  into  the  tent,  and  Tish  closed  and  fas 
tened  it. 

"Now,"  she  said,  "I've  got  the  papers." 

"Papers?" 

"The  ones  Mr.  McDonald  gave  that  Indian  this 
morning.  I  had  an  idea  he'd  still  have  them.  You  can't 
hurry  an  Indian.  I  waited  in  the  bushes  until  he  went 
in  swimming.  Then  I  went  through  his  pockets." 

"Tish  Carberry!"  cried  Aggie. 

"These  are  not  times  to  be  squeamish,"  Tish  said 
loftily.  "I'm  neutral,  of  course;  but  Great  Britain 
has  had  this  war  forced  on  her  and  I'm  going  to  see 
that  she  has  a  fair  show.  I've  ordered  all  my  stock 
ings  from  the  same  shop  in  London,  for  twenty  years, 

217 


TISH 

and  squarer  people  never  lived.  Look  at  these  —  how 
innocent  they  look,  until  one  knows!" 

She  produced  two  papers  from  inside  her  waist.  I 
must  confess  that,  at  first  glance,  I  saw  nothing  re 
markable. 

"The  first  one  looks,"  said  Tish,  "like  a  grocery 
order.  It's  meant  to  look  like  that.  It's  relieved  my 
mind  of  one  thing — McDonald 's  got  no  wireless  or  he 
wouldn't  be  sending  cipher  messages  by  an  Indian." 

It  was  written  on  a  page  torn  out  of  a  pocket  note 
book  and  the  page  was  ruled  with  an  inch  margin  at 
the  left.  This  was  the  document:  — 

1  Dozen  eggs. 
20  Yards  fishing-line. 

1  pkg.  Needles  —  anything  to  sew  a  button  on. 
1  doz.  ABC  bass  hooks. 
3  Ibs.    Meat  —  anything  so  it  is  n't  fish. 
1  bot.  Ink  for  fountain  pen. 

3  Tins  sardines. 

1  Extractor. 

Well,  I  could  not  make  anything  of  it;  but,  of  course, 
I  have  not  Tish's  mind.  Aggie  was  almost  as  bad. 

"What's  an  extractor?"  she  asked. 

"Exactly!"  said  Tish.  "What  is  an  extractor?  Is 
the  fellow  going  to  pull  teeth?  No!  He  needed  an  e; 
so  he  made  up  a  word." 

She  ran  her  finger  down  the  first  letters  of  the  sec 
ond  column. 

"D-y-n-a-m-i-t-e!"  she  said  triumphantly.  "Did 
n't  I  tell  you?" 


IV 

WELL,  there  it  was  —  staring  at  us.  I  felt  positively 
chilled.  He  looked  so  young  and  agreeable,  and,  as 
Aggie  said,  he  had  such  nice  teeth.  And  to  know  him 
for  what  he  was  —  it  was  tragic !  But  that  was  not  all. 

"Add  the  numbers!"  said  Tish.  "Thirty-one—- 
tons,  perhaps,  of  dynamite!  And  that's  only  part," 
said  Tish.  "Here's  the  most  damning  thing  of  all  — 
a  note  to  his  accomplice!" 

"Damning  "  is  here  used  in  the  sense  of  condem 
natory.  We  are  none  of  us  addicted  to  profanity. 

We  read  the  other  paper,  which  had  been  in  a 
sealed  envelope,  but  without  superscription.  It  is 
before  me  as  I  write,  and  I  am  copying  it  exactly :  — 

I  shall  have  to  see  you.  I'm  going  crazy!  Don't  you 
realize  that  this  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death  to  me?  Come 
to  Island  Eleven  to-night,  won't  you?  And  give  me  a 
chance  to  talk,  anyhow.  Something  has  got  to  be  done  and 
done  soon.  I  'm  desperate ! 

Aggie  sneezed  three  times  in  sheer  excitement;  for 
any  one  can  see  how  absolutely  incriminating  the  let 
ter  was.  It  was  not  signed,  but  it  was  in  the  same 
writing  as  the  list. 

Tish,  who  knows  something  about  everything,  said 
the  writing  denoted  an  unscrupulous  and  violent 
nature. 

219 


TISH  

"The  y  is  especially  vicious,"  she  said.  "I  would  n't 
trust  a  man  who  made  a  y  like  that  to  carry  a  sick 
child  to  the  doctor!" 

The  thing,  of  course,  was  to  decide  at  once  what 
measures  to  take.  The  boat  would  not  come  again  for 
two  days,  and  to  send  a  letter  by  it  to  the  town  marshal 
or  sheriff,  or  whatever  the  official  is  in  Canada  who 
takes  charge  of  spies,  would  be  another  loss  of  time. 

"  Just  one  thing,"  said  Tish.  "  I  '11  plan  this  out  and 
find  some  way  to  deal  with  the  wretch;  but  I  would  n't 
say  anything  to  Hutchins.  She's  a  nice  little  thing, 
though  she  is  a  fool  about  a  motor  boat.  There's  no 
use  in  scaring  her." 

For  some  reason  or  other,  however,  Hutchins  was 
out  of  spirits  that  night. 

"I  hope  you're  not  sick,  Hutchins?"  said  Tish. 

"No,  indeed,  Miss  Tish." 

"You're  not  eating  your  fish." 

"I'm  sick  of  fish,"  she  said  calmly.  "I've  eaten  so 
much  fish  that  when  I  see  a  hook  I  have  a  mad  desire 
to  go  and  hang  myself  on  it." 

"Fish,"  said  Tish  grimly,  "is  good  for  the  brain.  I 
do  not  care  to  boast,  but  never  has  my  mind  been  so 
clear  as  it  is  to-night." 

Now  certainly,  though  Tish's  tone  was  severe,  there 
was  nothing  in  it  to  hurt  the  girl;  but  she  got  up  from 
the  cracker  box  on  which  she  was  sitting,  with  her 
eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"Don't  mind  me.  I'm  a  silly  fool,"  she  said;  and 
went  down  to  the  river  and  stood  looking  out  over  it. 

220 


TISH  

It  quite  spoiled  our  evening.  Aggie  made  her  a  hot 
lemonade  and,  I  believe,  talked  to  her  about  Mr. 
Wiggins,  and  how,  when  he  was  living,  she  had  had 
fits  of  weeping  without  apparent  cause.  But  if  the 
girl  was  in  love,  as  we  surmised,  she  said  nothing 
about  it.  She  insisted  that  it  was  too  much  fish  and 
nervous  strain  about  the  Mebbe. 

"I  never  know,"  she  said,  "when  we  start  out 
whether  we're  going  to  get  back  or  be  marooned  and 
starve  to  death  on  some  island." 

Tish  said  afterward  that  her  subconscious  self  must 
have  taken  the  word  "marooned"  and  played  with  it; 
for  in  ten  minutes  or  so  her  plan  popped  into  her  head. 

"'  Full-panoplied  from  the  head  of  Jove,'  Lizzie," 
she  said.  "Really,  it  is  not  necessary  to  think  if  one 
only  has  faith.  The  supermind  does  it  all  without 
effort.  I  do  not  dislike  the  young  man;  but  I  must  do 
my  duty." 

Tish's  plan  was  simplicity  itself.  We  were  to  steal 
his  canoe. 

"Then  we'll  have  him,"  she  finished.  "The  cur 
rent's  too  strong  there  for  him  to  swim  to  the  main 
land." 

"He  might  try  it  and  drown,"  Aggie  objected. 
"Spy  or  no  spy,  he  's  somebody's  son." 

"War  is  no  time  to  be  chicken-hearted,"  Tish  re 
plied. 

I  confess  I  ate  little  all  that  day.  At  noon  Mr. 
McDonald  came  and  borrowed  two  eggs  from  us. 

"I've  sent  over  to  a  store  across  country,  by  my 
221 


TISH 


Indian  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend,"  he  said,  "for 
some  things  I  needed;  but  I  dare  say  he's  reading 
Byron  somewhere  and  has  forgotten  it." 

"Guide,  philosopher,  and  friend!"  I  caught  Tish's 
eye.  McDonald  had  written  the  Updike  letter!  Mc 
Donald  had  meant  to  use  our  respectability  to  take 
him  across  the  border! 

We  gave  him  the  eggs,  but  Tish  said  afterward  she 
was  not  deceived  for  a  moment. 

"The  Indian  has  told  him,"  she  said,  "and  he's  al 
laying  our  suspicions.  Oh,  he 's  clever  enough !  *  Know 
the  Indian  mind  and  my  own! ' "  she  quoted  from  the 
Updike  letter.  "'I  know  Canada  thoroughly.'  'My 
object  is  not  money.'  I  should  think  not!" 

Tish  stole  the  green  canoe  that  night.  She  put  on 
the  life  preserver  and  we  tied  the  end  of  the  rope  that 
Aggie  had  let  slip  to  the  canoe.  The  life-preserver 
made  it  difficult  to  paddle,  Tish  said,  but  she  felt 
more  secure.  If  she  struck  a  rock  and  upset,  at  least 
she  would  not  drown;  and  we  could  start  after  her  at 
dawn  with  the  Mebbe. 

"I'll  be  somewhere  down  the  river,"  she  said,  "and 
safe  enough,  most  likely,  unless  there  are  falls." 

Hutchins  watched  in  a  puzzled  way,  for  Tish  did 
not  leave  until  dusk. 

"You'd  better  let  me  follow  you  with  the  launch, 
Miss  Tish,"  she  said.  "Just  remember  that  if  the 
canoe  sinks  you're  tied  to  it." 

"I'm  on  serious  business  to-night,  Hutchins,"  Tish 
said  ominously.  "You  are  young,  and  I  refuse  to 

222 


TISH 

trouble  your  young  mind;  but  your  ears  are  sharp. 
If  you  hear  any  shooting,  get  the  boat  and  follow  me." 

The  mention  of  shooting  made  me  very  nervous. 
We  watched  Tish  as  long  as  we  could  see  her;  then 
we  returned  to  the  tent,  and  Aggie  and  I  crocheted 
by  the  hanging  lantern.  Two  hours  went  by.  At 
eleven  o'clock  Tish  had  not  returned  and  Hutchins 
was  in  the  motor  boat,  getting  it  ready  to  start. 

"I  like  courage,  Miss  Lizzie,"  she  said  to  me;  "but 
this  thing  of  elderly  women,  with  some  sort  of  bug, 
starting  out  at  night  in  canoes  is  too  strong  for  me. 
Either  she's  going  to  stay  hi  at  night  or  I'm  going 
home." 

"Elderly  nothing!"  I  said,  with  some  spirit.  "She 
is  in  the  prime  of  life.  Please  remember,  Hutchins, 
that  you  are  speaking  of  your  employer.  Miss  Tish 
has  no  bug,  as  you  call  it." 

"Oh,  she's  rational  enough,"  Hutchins  retorted; 
"but  she  is  a  woman  of  one  idea  and  that  sort  of  per 
son  is  dangerous." 

I  was  breathless  at  her  audacity. 

"Come  now,  Miss  Lizzie,"  she  said,  "how  can  I 
help  when  I  don't  know  what  is  being  done?  I've 
done  my  best  up  here  to  keep  you  comfortable  and 
restrain  Miss  Tish's  recklessness;  but  I  ought  to  know 
something." 

She  was  right;  and,  Tish  or  no  Tish,  then  and  there 
I  told  her.  She  was  more  than  astonished.  She  sat 
in  the  motor  boat,  with  a  lantern  at  her  feet,  and  lis 
tened. 

223 


TISH  

"I  see,"  she  said  slowly.  "So  the  —  so  Mr.  Mc 
Donald  is  a  spy  and  has  sent  for  dynamite  to  de 
stroy  the  railroad!  And  —  and  the  red-haired  man  is 
a  detective!  How  do  you  know  he  is  a  detective?" 

I  told  her  then  about  the  note  we  had  picked  up 
from  beside  her  in  the  train,  and  because  she  was  so 
much  interested  she  really  seemed  quite  thrilled.  I 
brought  the  cipher  grocery  list  and  the  other  note 
down  to  her. 

"It's  quite  convincing,  is  n't  it?"  she  said.  "And 
—  and  exciting!  I  don't  know  when  I've  been  so 
excited." 

She  really  was.  Her  cheeks  were  flushed.  She 
looked  exceedingly  pretty. 

"The  thing  to  do,"  she  said,  "is  to  teach  him  a 
lesson.  He's  young.  He  may  n't  always  have  had  to 
stoop  to  such  —  such  criminality.  If  we  can  scare 
him  thoroughly,  it  might  do  him  a  lot  of  good." 

I  said  I  was  afraid  Tish  took  a  more  serious  view 
of  things  and  would  notify  the  authorities.  And  at 
that  moment  there  came  two  or  three  shots  —  then 
silence. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  ride  after  Tish  and  how  we 
felt  when  we  failed  to  find  her;  for  there  was  no  sign 
of  her.  The  wind  had  come  up,  and,  what  with  seeing 
Tish  tied  to  that  wretched  canoe  and  sinking  with  it 
or  shot  through  the  head  and  lying  dead  in  the  bot 
tom  of  it,  we  were  about  crazy.  As  we  passed  Island 
Eleven  we  could  see  the  spy's  camp-fire  and  his  tent, 
but  no  living  person. 

224 


TISH 


At  four  in  the  morning  we  gave  up  and  started 
back,  heavy-hearted.  What,  therefore,  was  our  sur 
prise  to  find  Tish  sitting  by  the  fire  in  her  bathrobe, 
with  a  cup  of  tea  in  her  lap  and  her  feet  in  a  foot-tub 
of  hot  water!  Considering  all  we  had  gone  through 
and  that  we  had  obeyed  orders  exactly,  she  was  dis 
tinctly  unjust.  Indeed,  at  first  she  quite  refused  to 
speak  to  any  of  us. 

"I  do  think,  Tish,"  Aggie  said  as  she  stood  shiver 
ing  by  the  fire, "  that  you  might  at  least  explain  where 
you  have  been.  We  have  been  going  up  and  down  the 
river  for  hours,  burying  you  over  and  over." 

Tish  took  a  sip  of  tea,  but  said  nothing. 

"You  said,"  I  reminded  her,  "that  if  there  was 
shooting,  we  were  to  start  after  you  at  once.  When 
we  heard  the  shots,  we  went,  of  course." 

Tish  leaned  over  and,  taking  the  teakettle  from 
the  fire,  poured  more  water  into  the  foot-tub.  Then 
at  last  she  turned  to  speak. 

"Bring  some  absorbent  cotton  and  some  bandages, 
Hutchins,"  she  said.  "I  am  bleeding  from  a  hundred 
wounds.  As  for  you"  —  she  turned  fiercely  on  Aggie 
and  me  —  "the  least  you  could  have  done  was  to  be 
here  when  I  returned,  exhausted,  injured,  and  weary; 
but,  of  course,  you  were  gallivanting  round  the  lake 
in  an  upholstered  motor  boat." 

Here  she  poured  more  water  into  the  foot-tub  and 
made  it  much  too  hot.  This  thawed  her  rather,  and 
she  explained  what  was  wrong.  She  was  bruised, 
scratched  to  the  knees,  and  with  a  bump  the  size  of 

225 


TISH  

an  egg  on  her  forehead,  where  she  had  run  into  a 
tree. 

The  whole  story  was  very  exciting.  It  seems  she 
got  the  green  canoe  without  any  difficulty,  the  spy 
being  sound  asleep  in  his  tent;  but  about  that  time 
the  wind  came  up  and  Tish  said  she  could  not  make 
an  inch  of  progress  toward  our  camp. 

The  chewing  gum  with  which  we  had  repaired  our 
canoe  came  out  at  that  time  and  the  boat  began  to 
fill,  Tish  being  unable  to  sit  over  the  leak  and  paddle 
at  the  same  time.  So,  at  last,  she  gave  up  and  made 
for  the  mainland. 

"The  shooting,"  Tish  said  with  difficulty,  "was  by 
men  from  the  Indian  camp  firing  at  me.  I  landed 
below  the  camp,  and  was  making  my  way  as  best  I 
could  through  the  woods  when  they  heard  me  moving. 
I  believe  they  thought  it  was  a  bear." 

I  think  Tish  was  more  afraid  of  the  Indians,  in 
spite  of  their  sixty-three  steel  engravings  and  the  rest 
of  it,  than  she  pretended,  though  she  said  she  would 
have  made  herself  known,  but  at  that  moment  she 
fell  over  a  fallen  tree  and  for  fifteen  minutes  was  un 
able  to  speak  a  word.  When  at  last  she  rose  the  excite 
ment  was  over  and  they  had  gone  back  to  their  camp. 

"Anyhow,"  she  finished,  "the  green  canoe  is  hid 
den  a  couple  of  miles  down  the  river,  and  I  guess  Mr. 
McDonald  is  safe  for  a  time.  Lizzie,  you  can  take  a 
bath  to-morrow  safely." 

Tish  sat  up  most  of  the  rest  of  the  night  composing 
a  letter  to  the  authorities  of  the  town,  telling  them  of 

226 


TISH  

Mr.  McDonald  and  enclosing  careful  copies  of  the 
incriminating  documents  she  had  found. 

During  the  following  morning  the  river  was  very 
quiet.  Through  the  binocular  we  were  able  to  see 
Mr.  McDonald  standing  on  the  shore  of  his  island 
and  looking  intently  in  our  direction,  but  naturally 
we  paid  no  attention  to  him. 

The  red-haired  man  went  in  swimming  that  day 
and  necessitated  our  retiring  to  the  tent  for  an  hour 
and  a  half;  but  at  noon  Aggie's  naturally  soft  heart 
began  to  assert  itself. 

"Spy  or  no  spy,"  she  said  to  Tish,  "we  ought  to 
feed  him." 

"Huh!"  was  Tish's  rejoinder.  "There  is  no  sense 
in  wasting  good  food  on  a  man  whose  hours  are  num 
bered." 

We  were  surprised,  however,  to  find  that  Hutchins, 
who  had  detested  Mr.  McDonald,  was  rather  on 
Aggie's  side. 

"The  fact  that  he  has  but  a  few  more  hours,"  she 
said  to  Tish,  "is  an  excellent  reason  for  making  those 
hours  as  little  wretched  as  possible." 

It  was  really  due  to  Hutchins,  therefore,  that  Mr. 
McDonald  had  a  luncheon.  The  problem  of  how  to 
get  it  to  him  was  a  troublesome  one,  but  Tish  solved 
it  with  her  customary  sagacity. 

"We  can  make  a  raft,"  she  said,  "a  small  one,  large 
enough  to  hold  a  tray.  By  stopping  the  launch  some 
yards  above  the  island  we  can  float  his  luncheon  to 
him  quite  safely." 

227 


• TISH  

That  was  the  method  we  ultimately  pursued  and  it 
worked  most  satisfactorily. 

Hutchins  baked  hot  biscuits;  and,  by  putting  a 
cover  over  the  pan,  we  were  enabled  to  get  them  to 
him  before  they  cooled. 

We  prepared  a  really  appetizing  luncheon  of  hot 
biscuits,  broiled  ham,  marmalade,  and  tea,  adding,  at 
Aggie's  instructions,  a  jar  of  preserved  peaches,  which 
she  herself  had  put  up. 

Tish  made  the  raft  while  we  prepared  the  food,  and 
at  exactly  half -past  twelve  o'clock  we  left  the  house. 
Mr.  McDonald  saw  us  coming  and  was  waiting  smil 
ingly  at  the  upper  end  of  the  island. 

"  Great  Scott ! "  he  said.  "  I  thought  you  were  never 
going  to  hear  me.  Another  hour  and  I  'd  have  made  a 
swim  for  it,  though  it 's  suicidal  with  this  current.  I  '11 
show  you  where  you  can  come  in  so  you  won't  hit  a 
rock." 

Hutchins  had  stopped  the  engine  of  the  motor  boat 
and  we  threw  out  the  anchor  at  a  safe  distance  from 
the  shore. 

"  We  are  not  going  to  land,"  said  Tish,  "  and  I  think 
you  know  perfectly  well  the  reason  why." 

"Oh,  now,"  he  protested;  "surely  you  are  going  to 
land !  I  Ve  had  an  awfully  uncomfortable  accident  — 
my  canoe's  gone." 

"We  know  that,"  Tish  said  calmly.  "As  a  matter 
of  fact,  we  took  it." 

Mr.  McDonald  sat  down  suddenly  on  a  log  at  the 
water's  edge  and  looked  at  us. 

228 


TISH  

"Oh!  "he  said. 

"You  may  not  believe  it,"  Tish  said,  "but  we 
know  everything  —  your  dastardly  plot,  who  the  red- 
haired  man  is,  and  all  the  destruction  and  wretched 
ness  you  are  about  to  cause." 

" Oh,  I  say ! "  he  said  feebly.  "I  would  n't  go  as  far 
as  that.  I'm  —  I'm  not  such  a  bad  sort." 

"That  depends  on  the  point  of  view,"  said  Tish 
grimly. 

Aggie  touched  her  on  the  arm  then  and  reminded 
her  that  the  biscuits  were  getting  cold;  but  Tish  had 
a  final  word  with  him. 

"Your  correspondence  has  fallen  into  my  hands, 
young  man,"  she  said,  "and  will  be  turned  over  to 
the  proper  authorities." 

"It  won't  tell  them  anything  they  don't  know," 
he  said  doggedly.  "Look  here,  ladies:  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  this  thing.  I  —  I  am  proud  of  it.  I  am 
perfectly  willing  to  yell  it  out  Ipud  for  everybody  to 
hear.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  think  I  will." 

Mr.  McDonald  stood  up  suddenly  and  threw  his 
head  back;  but  here  Hutchins,  who  had  been  silent, 
spoke  for  the  first  time. 

"Don't  be  an  idiot!"  she  said  coldly.  "We  have 
something  here  for  you  to  eat  if  you  behave  your 
self." 

He  seemed  to  see  her  then  for  the  first  time,  for  he 
favored  her  with  a  long  stare. 

"Ah!"  he  said.  "Then  you  are  not  entirely  cold 
and  heartless?" 

229 


TISH  

She  made  no  reply  to  this,  being  busy  in  assisting 
Aggie  to  lower  the  raft  over  the  side  of  the  boat. 

"Broiled  ham,  tea,  hot  biscuits,  and  marmalade," 
said  Aggie  gently.  "My  poor  fellow,  we  are  doing 
what  we  consider  our  duty;  but  we  want  you  to  know 
that  it  is  hard  for  us  —  very  hard." 

When  he  saw  our  plan,  Mr.  McDonald's  face  fell; 
but  he  stepped  out  into  the  water  up  to  his  knees  and 
caught  the  raft  as  it  floated  down. 

Before  he  said  "Thank  you"  he  lifted  the  cover  of 
the  pan  and  saw  the  hot  biscuits  underneath. 

"Really,"  he  said,  "it's  very  decent  of  you.  I  sent 
off  a  grocery  order  yesterday,  but  nothing  has  come." 

Tish  had  got  Hutchins  to  start  the  engine  by  that 
time  and  we  were  moving  away.  He  stood  there,  up 
to  his  knees  in  water,  holding  the  tray  and  looking 
after  us.  He  was  really  a  pathetic  figure,  especially 
in  view  of  the  awful  fate  we  felt  was  overtaking  him. 

He  called  something  after  us.  On  account  of  the 
noise  of  the  engine,  we  could  not  be  certain,  but  we 
all  heard  it  the  same  way. 

"Send  for  the  whole  d d  outfit!"  was  the  way  it 

sounded  to  us.  "It  won't  make  any  difference  to  me." 


THE  last  thing  I  recall  of  Mr.  McDonald  that  day  is 
seeing  him  standing  there  in  the  water,  holding  the 
tray,  with  the  teapot  steaming  under  his  nose,  and 
gazing  after  us  with  an  air  of  bewilderment  that  did 
not  deceive  us  at  all. 

As  I  look  back,  there  is  only  one  thing  we  might 
have  noticed  at  the  time.  This  was  the  fact  that 
Hutchins,  having  started  the  engine,  was  sitting  be 
side  it  on  the  floor  of  the  boat  and  laughing  in  the 
cruelest  possible  manner.  As  I  said  to  Aggie  at  the 
time:  "A  spy  is  a  spy  and  entitled  to  punishment  if 
discovered;  but  no  young  woman  should  laugh  over 
so  desperate  a  situation." 

I  come  now  to  the  denouement  of  this  exciting 
period.  It  had  been  Tish's  theory  that  the  red-haired 
man  should  not  be  taken  into  our  confidence.  If  there 
was  a  reward  for  the  capture  of  the  spy,  we  ourselves 
intended  to  have  it. 

The  steamer  was  due  the  next  day  but  one.  Tish 
was  in  favor  of  not  waiting,  but  of  at  once  going  in  the 
motor  boat  to  the  town,  some  thirty  miles  away,  and 
telling  of  our  capture;  but  Hutchins  claimed  there 
was  not  sufficient  gasoline  for  such  an  excursion.  That 
afternoon  we  went  in  the  motor  launch  to  where  Tish 
had  hidden  the  green  canoe  and,  with  a  hatchet,  ren 
dered  it  useless. 

231 


TISH  

The  workings  of  the  subconscious  mind  are  mar 
velous.  In  the  midst  of  chopping,  Tish  suddenly 
looked  up. 

"Have  you  noticed,"  she  said,  "that  the  detective 
is  always  watching  our  camp?" 

"That's  all  he  has  to  do,"  Aggie  suggested. 

"Stuff  and  nonsense!  Did  n't  he  follow  you  into 
the  swamp?  Does  Hutchins  ever  go  out  in  the  canoe 
that  he  does  n't  go  out  also?  I'll  tell  you  what  has 
happened:  She's  young  and  pretty,  and  he's  fallen  in 
love  with  her." 

I  must  say  it  sounded  reasonable.  He  never  both 
ered  about  the  motor  boat,  but  the  instant  she  took 
the  canoe  and  started  out  he  was  hovering  somewhere 
near. 

"She's  noticed  it,"  Tish  went  on.  "That's  what 
she  was  quarreling  about  with  him  yesterday." 

"How  are  we  to  know,"  said  Aggie,  who  was 
gathering  up  the  scraps  of  the  green  canoe  and  build 
ing  a  fire  under  them  —  "how  are  we  to  know  they 
are  not  old  friends,  meeting  thus  in  the  wilderness? 
Fate  plays  strange  tricks,  Tish.  I  lived  in  the  same 
street  with  Mr.  Wiggins  for  years,  and  never  knew 
him  until  one  day  when  my  umbrella  turned  wrong 
side  out  in  a  gust  of  wind." 

"Fate  fiddlesticks!"  said  Tish.  "There's  no  such 
thing  as  fate  in  affairs  of  this  sort.  It 's  all  instinct  — 
the  instinct  of  the  race  to  continue  itself." 

This  Aggie  regarded  as  indelicate  and  she  was 
rather  cool  to  Tish  the  balance  of  the  day. 


TISH 

Our  prisoner  spent  most  of  the  day  at  the  end  of  the 
island  toward  us,  sitting  quietly,  as  we  could  see 
through  the  glasses.  We  watched  carefully,  fearing 
at  any  time  to  see  the  Indian  paddling  toward  him. 

[Tish  was  undecided  what  to  do  in  such  an  emer 
gency,  except  to  intercept  him  and  explain,  threaten 
ing  him  also  with  having  attempted  to  carry  the  in 
criminating  papers.  As  it  happened,  however,  the 
entire  camp  had  gone  for  a  two-days'  deer  hunt,  and 
before  they  returned  the  whole  thing  had  come  to  its 
surprising  end.] 

Late  in  the  afternoon  Tish  put  her  theory  of  the 
red-haired  man  to  the  test. 

"Hutchins,"  she  said,  "Miss  Lizzie  and  I  will  cook 
the  dinner  if  you  want  to  go  in  the  canoe  to  Harvey's 
Bay  for  water-lilies." 

Hutchins  at  once  said  she  did  not  care  a  rap  for 
water-lilies;  but,  seeing  a  determined  glint  in  Tish's 
eye,  she  added  that  she  would  go  for  frogs  if  Tish 
wanted  her  out  the  way. 

"Don't  talk  like  a  child!"  Tish  retorted.  "Who 
said  I  wanted  you  out  of  the  way?" 

It  is  absolutely  true  that  the  moment  Hutchins 
put  her  foot  into  the  canoe  the  red-haired  man  put 
down  his  fishing-rod  and  rose.  And  she  had  not  taken 
three  strokes  with  the  paddle  before  he  was  in  the 
blue  canoe. 

Hutchins  saw  him  just  then  and  scowled.  The  last 
we  saw  of  her  she  was  moving  rapidly  up  the  river 
and  the  detective  was  dropping  slowly  behind.  They 

233 


TISH  

both  disappeared  finally  into  the  bay  and  Tish  drew  a 
long  breath. 

"Typical!"  she  said  curtly.  "He's  sent  here  to 
watch  a  dangerous  man  and  spends  his  time  pursuing 
a  young  woman  who  hates  the  sight  of  him.  When 
women  achieve  the  suffrage  they  will  put  none  but 
married  men  in  positions  of  trust." 

Hutchins  and  the  detective  were  still  out  of  sight 
when  supper-time  came.  The  spy's  supper  weighed 
on  us,  and  at  last  Tish  attempted  to  start  the  motor 
launch.  We  had  placed  the  supper  and  the  small  raft 
aboard,  and  Aggie  was  leaning  over  the  edge  untying 
the  painter,  —  not  a  man,  but  a  rope,  —  when  unex 
pectedly  the  engine  started  at  the  first  revolution  of 
the  wheel. 

It  darted  out  to  the  length  of  the  rope,  where  it 
was  checked  abruptly,  the  shock  throwing  Aggie  en 
tirely  out  and  into  the  stream.  Tish  caught  the  knife 
from  the  supper  tray  to  cut  us  loose,  and  while  Tish 
cut  I  pulled  Aggie  in,  wet  as  she  was.  The  boat  was 
straining  and  panting,  and,  on  being  released,  it 
sprang  forward  like  a  dog  unleashed. 

Aggie  had  swallowed  a  great  deal  of  water  and  was 
most  disagreeable;  but  the  Mebbe  was  going  remark 
ably  well,  and  there  seemed  to  be  every  prospect  that 
we  should  get  back  to  the  camp  in  good  order.  Alas, 
for  human  hopes  1  Mr.  McDonald  was  not  very  agree 
able. 

"You  know,"  he  said  as  he  waited  for  his  supper  to 
3oat  within  reach,  "you  need  n't  be  so  blamed  radical 

234 


TISH 


about  everything  you  do!  If  you  object  to  my  hang 
ing  round,  why  not  just  say  so?  If  I'm  too  obnoxious 
I '11  clear  out." 

"Obnoxious  is  hardly  the  word,"  said  Tish. 

"How  long  am  I  to  be  a  prisoner?" 

"I  shall  send  letters  off  by  the  first  boat." 

He  caught  the  raft  just  then  and  examined  the 
supper  with  interest. 

"Of  course  things  might  be  worse,"  he  said;  "but 
it 's  dirty  treatment,  anyhow.  And  it 's  darned  humili 
ating.  Somebody  I  know  is  having  a  good  time  at  my 
expense.  It's  heartless!  That's  what  it  is — heartless!" 

Well,  we  left  him,  the  engine  starting  nicely  and 
Aggie  being  wrapped  in  a  tarpaulin;  but  about  a  hun 
dred  yards  above  the  island  it  began  to  slow  down, 
and  shortly  afterward  it  stopped  altogether.  As  the 
current  caught  us,  we  luckily  threw  out  the  anchor, 
for  the  engine  refused  to  start  again.  It  was  then  we 
saw  the  other  canoes. 

The  girl  in  the  pink  tam-o'-shanter  was  in  the  first 
one. 

They  glanced  at  us  curiously  as  they  passed,  and 
the  P.  T.  S.  —  that  is  the  way  we  grew  to  speak  of 
the  pink  tam-o'-shanter  —  raised  one  hand  in  the  air, 
which  is  a  form  of  canoe  greeting,  probably  less  up 
setting  to  the  equilibrium  than  a  vigorous  waving  of 
the  arm. 

It  was  just  then,  I  believe,  that  they  saw  our  camp 
and  headed  for  it.  The  rest  of  what  happened  is  most 
amazing.  They  stopped  at  our  landing  and  unloaded 

235 


TISH  

their  canoes.  Though  twilight  was  falling,  we  could 
see  them  distinctly.  And  what  we  saw  was  that  they 
calmly  took  possession  of  the  camp. 

"Good  gracious!"  Tish  cried.  "The  girls  have 
gone  into  the  tent !  And  somebody 's  working  at  the 
stove.  The  impertinence!" 

Our  situation  was  acutely  painful.  We  could  do  noth 
ing  but  watch.  We  called,  but  our  voices  failed  to  reach 
them.  And  Aggie  took  a  chill,  partly  cold  and  partly 
fury.  We  sat  there  while  they  ate  the  entire  supper! 

They  were  having  a  very  good  time.  Now  and  then 
somebody  would  go  into  the  tent  and  bring  something 
out,  and  there  would  be  shrieks  of  laughter. 

[We  learned  afterward  that  part  of  the  amusement 
was  caused  by  Aggie's  false  front,  which  one  of  the 
wretches  put  on  as  a  beard.] 

It  was  while  thus  distracted  that  Aggie  suddenly 
screamed,  and  a  moment  later  Mr.  McDonald  climbed 
over  the  side  and  into  the  boat,  dripping. 

"Don't  be  alarmed!"  he  said.  "I'll  go  back  and 
be  a  prisoner  again  just  as  soon  as  I've  fixed  the 
engine.  I  could  n't  bear  to  think  of  the  lady  who  fell 
in  sitting  here  indefinitely  and  taking  cold."  He  was 
examining  the  engine  while  he  spoke.  "Have  visitors, 
I  see,"  he  observed,  as  calmly  as  though  he  were  not 
dripping  all  over  the  place. 

"Intruders,  not  visitors!"  Tish  said  angrily.  "I 
never  saw  them  before." 

"Rather  pretty,  the  one  with  the  pink  cap.  May  I 
examine  the  gasoline  supply?"  There  was  no  gaso- 

236 


TISH  = 

line.  He  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "I'm  afraid  no 
amount  of  mechanical  genius  I  intended  to  offer  you 
will  start  her,"  he  said;  "but  the  young  lady  — 
Hutchins  is  her  name,  I  believe?  —  will  see  you  here 
and  come  after  you,  of  course." 

Well,  there  was  no  denying  that,  spy  or  no  spy, 
his  presence  was  a  comfort.  He  offered  to  swim 
back  to  the  island  and  be  a  prisoner  again,  but  Tish 
said  magnanimously  that  there  was  no  hurry.  On 
Aggie's  offering  half  of  her  tarpaulin  against  the  wind, 
which  had  risen,  he  accepted. 

"Your  Miss  Hutchins  is  reckless,  isn't  she?"  he 
said  when  he  was  comfortably  settled.  "  She 's  a  strong 
swimmer;  but  a  canoe  is  uncertain  at  the  best." 

"She's  in  no  danger,"  said  Tish.  "She  has  a  de 
voted  admirer  watching  out  for  her." 

"The  deuce  she  has!"  His  voice  was  quite  inter 
ested.  "Why,  who  on  earth  — " 

"Your  detective,"  said  Aggie  softly.  "He's  quite 
mad  about  her.  The  way  he  follows  her  and  the  way 
he  looks  at  her  —  it's  thrilling!" 

Mr.  McDonald  said  nothing  for  quite  a  while.  The 
canoe  party  had  evidently  eaten  everything  they 
could  find,  and  somebody  had  brought  out  a  banjo 
and  was  playing. 

Tish,  unable  to  vent  her  anger,  suddenly  turned  on 
Mr.  McDonald.  "If  you  think,"  she  said,  "that  the 
grocery  list  fooled  us,  it  did  n't!" 

"Grocery  list?" 

"That's  what  I  said." 

237 


TISH  

"How  did  you  get  my  grocery  list?" 

So  she  told  him,  and  how  she  had  deciphered  it,  and 
how  the  word  "dynamite"  had  only  confirmed  her 
early  suspicions. 

His  only  comment  was  to  say,  "Good  Heavens!" 
in  a  smothered  voice. 

"  It  was  the  extractor  that  made  me  suspicious,"  she 
finished.  "  What  were  you  going  to  extract?  Teeth?  " 

"And  so,  when  my  Indian  was  swimming,  you  went 
through  his  things!  It's  the  most  astounding  thing  I 
ever  —  My  dear  lady,  an  extractor  is  used  to  get  the 
hooks  out  of  fish.  It  was  no  cipher,  I  assure  you.  I 
needed  an  extractor  and  I  ordered  it.  The  cipher  you 
speak  of  is  only  a  remarkable  coincidence." 

"Huh!"  said  Tish.  "And  the  paper  you  dropped 
in  the  train  —  was  that  a  coincidence?  " 

"That's  not  my  secret,"  he  said,  and  turned  sulky 
all  at  once. 

"Don't  tell  me,"  Tish  said  triumphantly,  "that 
any  young  man  comes  here  absolutely  alone  without 
a  purpose!" 

"I  had  a  purpose,  all  right;  but  it  was  not  to  blow 
up  a  railroad  train." 

Apparently  he  thought  he  had  said  too  much,  for 
he  relapsed  into  silence  after  that,  with  an  occasional 
muttering. 

It  was  eight  o'clock  when  Hutchins's  canoe  came 
into  sight.  She  was  paddling  easily,  but  the  detective 
was  far  behind  and  moving  slowly. 

She  saw  the  camp  with  its  uninvited  guests,  and 
238 


TISH 


then  she  saw  us.  The  detective,  however,  showed  no 
curiosity;  and  we  could  see  that  he  made  for  his  land 
ing  and  stumbled  exhaustedly  up  the  bank.  Hutchins 
drew  up  beside  us.  "He '11  not  try  that  again,  I  think," 
she  said  in  her  crisp  voice.  "He's  out  of  training.  He 
panted  like  a  motor  launch.  Who  are  our  visitors?" 

Here  her  eyes  fell  on  Mr.  McDonald  and  her  face 
set  in  the  dusk. 

"You'll  have  to  go  back  and  get  some  gasoline, 
Hutchins." 

"What  made  you  start  out  without  looking?" 

"And  send  the  vandals  away.  If  they  wait  until  I 
arrive,  I'll  be  likely  to  do  them  some  harm.  I  have 
never  been  so  outraged." 

"Let  me  go  for  gasoline  in  the  canoe,"  said  Mr. 
McDonald.  He  leaned  over  the  thwart  and  addressed 
Hutchins.  "You're  worn  out,"  he  said.  "I  promise 
to  come  back  and  be  a  perfectly  well-behaved  pris 
oner  again." 

"Thanks,  no." 

"I'm  wet.  The  exercise  will  warm  me." 

"Is  it  possible,"  she  said  in  a  withering  tone  that 
was  lost  on  us  at  the  time,  "that  you  brought  no 
dumb-bells  with  you?" 

If  we  had  had  any  doubts  they  should  have  been 
settled  then;  but  we  never  suspected.  It  is  incredible, 
looking  back. 

The  dusk  was  falling  and  I  am  not  certain  of  what 
followed.  It  was,  however,  something  like  this:  Mr. 
McDonald  muttered  something  angrily  and  made  a 

£39 


TISH 


motion  to  get  into  the  canoe.  Hutchins  replied  that 
she  would  not  have  help  from  him  if  she  died  for  it. 
The  next  thing  we  knew  she  was  in  the  launch  and  the 
canoe  was  floating  off  on  the  current.  Aggie  squealed ; 
and  Mr.  McDonald,  instead  of  swimming  after  the 
thing,  merely  folded  his  arms  and  looked  at  it. 

"You  know,"  he  said  to  Hutchins,  "you  have  so 
unpleasant  a  disposition  that  somebody  we  both 
know  of  is  better  off  than  he  thinks  he  is!" 

Tish's  fury  knew  no  bounds,  for  there  we  were 
marooned  and  two  of  us  wet  to  the  skin.  I  must  say 
for  Hutchins,  however,  that  when  she  learned  about 
Aggie  she  was  bitterly  repentant,  and  insisted  on 
putting  her  own  sweater  on  her.  But  there  we  were 
and  there  we  should  likely  stay. 

It  was  quite  dark  by  that  time,  and  we  sat  in  the 
launch,  rocking  gently.  The  canoeing  party  had 
lighted  a  large  fire  on  the  beach,  using  the  driftwood 
we  had  so  painfully  accumulated. 

We  sat  in  silence,  except  that  Tish,  who  was  watch 
ing  our  camp,  said  once  bitterly  that  she  was  glad 
there  were  three  beds  in  the  tent.  The  girls  of  the 
canoeing  party  would  be  comfortable. 

After  a  time  Tish  turned  on  Mr.  McDonald  sharply. 
"Since  you  claim  to  be  no  spy,"  she  said,  "perhaps 
you  will  tell  us  what  brings  you  alone  to  this  place? 
Don't  tell  me  it 's  fish  —  I  've  seen  you  reading,  with 
a  line  out.  You're  no  fisherman." 

He  hesitated.  "No,"  he  admitted.  " I '11  be  frank, 
Miss  Carberry.  I  did  not  come  to  fish." 

240 


TISH 

"What  brought  you?" 

"Love,"  he  said,  in  a  low  tone.  "I  don't  expect 
you  to  believe  me,  but  it's  the  honest  truth." 

"  Love  !"Tish  scoffed. 

"Perhaps  I'd  better  tell  you  the  story,"  he  said. 
"It's  long  and  —  and  rather  sad." 

"Love  stories,"  Hutchins  put  in  coldly,  "are  ter 
ribly  stupid,  except  to  those  concerned." 

"That,"  he  retorted,  "is  because  you  have  never 
been  in  love.  You  are  young  and  —  you  will  pardon 
the  liberty?  —  attractive;  but  you  are  totally  prosaic 
and  unromantic." 

"Indeed!"  she  said,  and  relapsed  into  silence. 

"These  other  ladies,"  Mr.  McDonald  went  on, 
"will  understand  the  strangeness  of  my  situation 
when  I  explain  that  the  —  the  young  lady  I  care  for 
is  very  near;  is,  in  fact,  within  sight." 

"Good  gracious!"  said  Aggie.  "Where?" 

"It  is  a  long  story,  but  it  may  help  to  while  away 
the  long  night  hours;  for  I  dare  say  we  are  here  for  the 
night.  Did  any  one  happen  to  notice  the  young  lady 
in  the  first  canoe,  in  the  pink  tam-o'-shanter?  " 

We  said  we  had  —  all  except  Hutchins,  who,  of 
course,  had  not  seen  her.  Mr.  McDonald  got  a  wet  ci 
garette  from  his  pocket  and,  finding  a  box  of  matches 
on  the  seat,  made  an  attempt  to  dry  it  over  the  flame; 
so  his  story  was  told  in  the  flickering  light  of  one 
match  after  another. 


VI 

"I  AM,"  Mr.  McDonald  said,  as  the  cigarette  steamed, 
"the  son  of  poor  but  honest  parents.  All  my  life  I 
have  been  obliged  to  labor.  You  may  say  that  my 
English  is  surprisingly  pure,  under  such  conditions. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  educated  myself  at  night,  using 
a  lantern  in  the  top  of  my  father's  stable." 

"I  thought  you  said  he  was  poor,"  Hutchins  put 
in  nastily.  "How  did  he  have  a  stable?" 

"He  kept  a  livery  stable.  Any  points  that  are  not 
clear  I  will  explain  afterward.  Once  the  thread  of  a 
narrative  is  broken,  it  is  difficult  to  resume,  Miss 
Hutchins.  Near  us,  in  a  large  house,  lived  the  lady 
of  my  heart." 

"The  pink  tam-o'-shanter  girl!"  said  Aggie.  "I 
begin  to  understand." 

"But,"  he  added,  "near  us  also  lived  a  red-headed 
boy.  She  liked  him  very  much,  and  even  in  the  long- 
ago  days  I  was  fiercely  jealous  of  him.  It  may  sur 
prise  you  to  know  that  in  those  days  I  longed  — 
fairly  longed  —  for  red  hair  and  a  red  mustache." 

"I  hate  to  interrupt,"  said  Hutchins;  "but  did  he 
have  a  mustache  as  a  boy?" 

He  ignored  her.  "We  three  grew  up  together.  The 
girl  is  beautiful  —  you've  probably  noticed  that  — 
and  amiable.  The  one  thing  I  admire  in  a  young 

242 


TISH  • 

woman  is  amiability.  It  would  not,  for  instance,  have 
occurred  to  her  to  isolate  an  entire  party  on  the 
bosom  of  a  northern  and  treacherous  river  out  of  pure 
temper." 

"To  think,"  said  Aggie  softly,  "that  she  is  just 
over  there  by  the  camp-fire!  Don't  you  suppose,  if 
she  loves  you,  she  senses  your  nearness?" 

"That's  it  exactly,"  he  replied  in  a  gloomy  voice, 
"if  she  loves  me!  But  does  she?  In  other  words,  has 
she  come  up  the  river  to  meet  me  or  to  meet  my  rival? 
She  knows  we  are  here.  Both  of  us  have  written  her. 
The  presence  of  one  or  the  other  of  us  is  the  real 
reason  for  this  excursion  of  hers.  But  again  the  ques 
tion  is  —  which?" 

Here  the  match  he  was  holding  under  the  cigarette 
burned  his  fingers  and  he  flung  it  overboard  with  a 
violent  gesture. 

"The  detective,  of  course,"  said  Tish.  "I  knew  it 
from  the  beginning  of  your  story." 

"The  detective,"  he  assented.  "You  see  his  very 
profession  attracts.  There's  an  element  of  romance 
in  it.  I  myself  have  kept  on  with  my  father  and  now 
run  the  —  er  —  livery  stable.  My  business  is  a  handi 
cap  from  a  romantic  point  of  view. 

"I  am  aware,"  Mr.  McDonald  went  on,  "that  it  is 
not  customary  to  speak  so  frankly  of  affairs  of  this 
sort;  but  I  have  two  reasons.  It  hurts  me  to  rest 
under  unjust  suspicion.  I  am  no  spy,  ladies.  And  the 
second  reason  is  even  stronger.  Consider  my  desper 
ate  position:  In  the  morning  my  rival  will  see  her; 

243 


TISH 

will  paddle  his  canoe  to  the  great  rock  below  your 
camp  and  sing  his  love  song  from  the  water.  In  the 
morning  I  shall  sit  here  helpless  —  ill,  possibly  — 
and  see  all  that  I  value  in  life  slip  out  of  my  grasp. 
And  all  through  no  fault  of  my  own!  Things  are  so 
evenly  balanced,  so  little  will  shift  the  weight  of  her 
favor,  that  frankly  the  first  one  to  reach  her  will  get 
her." 

I  confess  I  was  thrilled.  And  even  Tish  was 
touched;  but  she  covered  her  emotion  with  hard  com 
mon  sense. 

"What's  her  name?"  she  demanded. 

"Considering  my  frankness  I  must  withhold  that. 
Why  not  simply  refer  to  her  as  the  pink  tam-o'- 
shanter  —  or,  better  still  and  more  briefly,  the  P.  T. 
S.?  That  may  stand  for  pink  tam-o'-shanter,  or  the 
Person  That  Smiles,  —  she  smiles  a  great  deal,  —  or 
—  or  almost  anything." 

"It  also  stands,"  said  Hutchins,  with  a  sniff,  "for 
Pretty  Tall  Story." 

Tish  considered  her  skepticism  unworthy  in  one  so 
young,  and  told  her  so;  on  which  she  relapsed  into  a 
sulky  silence. 

In  view  of  what  we  knew,  the  bonfire  at  our  camp 
and  the  small  figure  across  the  river  took  on  a  new 
significance. 

As  Aggie  said,  to  think  of  the  red-haired  man 
sleeping  calmly  while  his  lady  love  was  so  near  and 
his  rival,  so  to  speak,  hors  de  combat! 

Shortly  after  finishing  his  story,  Mr.  McDonald 
244 


TISH 


went  to  the  stern  of  the  boat  and  lifted  the  anchor 
rope. 

"It  is  possible,"  he  said,  "that  the  current  will 
carry  us  to  my  island  with  a  little  judicious  manage 
ment.  Even  though  we  miss  it,  we'll  hardly  be  worse 
off  than  we  are." 

It  was  surprising  we  had  not  thought  of  it  before, 
for  the  plan  succeeded  admirably.  By  moving  a  few 
feet  at  a  time  and  then  anchoring,  we  made  slow 
but  safe  progress,  and  at  last  touched  shore.  We 
got  out,  and  Mr.  McDonald  built  a  large  fire,  near 
which  we  put  Aggie  to  steam.  His  supper,  which 
he  had  not  had  time  to  eat,  he  generously  divided, 
and  we  heated  the  tea.  Hutchins,  however,  refused 
to  eat. 

Warmth  and  food  restored  Tish's  mind  to  its  usual 
keenness.  I  recall  now  the  admiration  in  Mr. 
McDonald's  eyes  when  she  suddenly  put  down  the 
sandwich  she  was  eating  and  exclaimed :  — 

"The  flags,  of  course!  He  told  her  to  watch  for  a 
red  flag  as  she  came  up  the  river;  so  when  the  party 
saw  ours  they  landed.  Perhaps  they  still  think  it  is 
his  camp  and  that  he  is  away  overnight." 

"That's  it,  exactly,"  he  said.  "Think  of  the  poor 
wretch's  excitement  when  he  saw  your  flag!" 

Still,  on  looking  back,  it  seems  curious  that  we 
overlooked  the  way  the  red-headed  man  had  followed 
Hutchins  about.  True,  men  are  polygamous  animals, 
Tish  says*  and  are  quite  capable  of  following  one 
woman  about  while  they  are  sincerely  in  love  with 

245 


TISH 

somebody  else.  But,  when  you  think  of  it,  the  detec 
tive  had  apparently  followed  Hutchins  from  the  start, 
and  had  gone  into  the  wilderness  to  be  near  her,  with 
only  a  suitcase  and  a  mackintosh  coat;  which  looked 
like  a  mad  infatuation. 

[Tish  says  she  thought  of  this  at  the  time,  and  that, 
from  what  she  had  seen  of  the  P.  T.  S.,  Hutchins  was 
much  prettier.  But  she  says  she  decided  that  men 
often  love  one  quality  in  one  girl  and  another  in  an 
other;  that  he  probably  loved  Hutchins's  beauty  and 
the  amiability  of  the  P.  T.  S.  Also,  she  says,  she  re 
flected  that  the  polygamy  of  the  Far  East  is  probably 
due  to  this  tendency  in  the  male  more  than  to  a  pre 
ponderance  of  women. J 

Tish  called  me  aside  while  Mr.  McDonald  was 
gathering  firewood.  "I'm  a  fool  and  a  guilty  woman, 
Lizzie,"  she  said.  "Because  of  an  unjust  suspicion  I 
have  possibly  wrecked  this  poor  boy's  life." 

I  tried  to  soothe  her.  "They  might  have  been 
wretchedly  unhappy  together,  Tish,"  I  said;  "and, 
anyhow,  I  doubt  whether  he  is  able  to  support  a  wife. 
There's  nothing  much  in  keeping  a  livery  stable  now 
adays." 

"There's  only  one  thing  that  still  puzzles  me," 
Tish  observed:  "  granting  that  the  grocery  order  was 
a  grocery  order,  what  about  the  note?  " 

We  might  have  followed  this  line  of  thought,  and 
saved  what  occurred  later,  but  that  a  new  idea  sud 
denly  struck  Tish.  She  is  curious  in  that  way;  her 
mind  works  very  rapidly  at  times,  and  because  I 

246 


TISH  

cannot  take  her  mental  hurdles,  so  to  speak,  she  is 
often  impatient. 

"Lizzie,"  she  said  suddenly,  "did  you  notice  that 
when  the  anchor  was  lifted,  we  drifted  directly  to  this 
island?  Don't  stare  at  me  like  that.  Use  your  wits." 

When  I  failed  instantly  to  understand,  however, 
she  turned  abruptly  and  left  me,  disappearing  in  the 
shadows. 

For  the  next  hour  nothing  happened.  Tish  was  not 
in  sight  and  Aggie  slept  by  the  fire.  Hutchins  sat  with 
her  chin  cupped  in  her  hands,  and  Mr.  McDonald 
gathered  driftwood. 

Hutchins  only  spoke  once.  "I'm  awfully  sorry 
about  the  canoe,  Miss  Lizzie,"  she  said;  "it  was  silly 
and  —  and  selfish.  I  don't  always  act  like  a  bad  child. 
The  truth  is,  I  'm  rather  upset  and  nervous.  I  hate  to 
be  thwarted  —  I  'm  sorry  I  can't  explain  any  further." 

I  was  magnanimous.  "I'm  sure,  until  to-night, 
you've  been  perfectly  satisfactory,"  I  said;  "but  it 
seems  extraordinary  that  you  should  dislike  men  the 
way  you  do." 

She  only  eyed  me  searchingly. 

It  is  my  evening  custom  to  prepare  for  the  night  by 
taking  my  switch  off  and  combing  and  braiding  my 
hair;  so,  as  we  seemed  to  be  settled  for  the  night,  I 
asked  Mr.  McDonald  whether  the  camp  afforded  an 
extra  comb.  He  brought  out  a  traveling-case  at  once 
from  the  tent  and  opened  it. 

"Here's  a  comb,"  he  said.  "I  never  use  one.  I'm 
sorry  this  is  all  I  can  supply." 

247 


TISH 

My  eyes  were  glued  to  the  case.  It  was  an  English 
traveling-case,  with  gold-mounted  fittings.  He  saw 
me  staring  at  it  and  changed  color. 

"Nice  bag,  is  n't  it?"  he  said.  "It  was  a  gift,  of 
course.  The  —  the  livery  stable  does  n't  run  much 
to  this  sort  of  thing." 

But  the  fine  edge  of  suspicion  had  crept  into  my 
mind  again. 

Tish  did  not  return  to  the  fire  for  some  time.  Be 
fore  she  came  back  we  were  all  thoroughly  alarmed. 
The  island  was  small,  and  a  short  search  convinced 
us  that  she  was  not  on  it! 

We  wakened  Aggie  and  told  her,  and  the  situa 
tion  was  very  painful.  The  launch  was  where  we 
had  left  it.  Mr.  McDonald  looked  more  and  more 
uneasy. 

"My  sane  mind  tells  me  she's  perfectly  safe,"  he 
said.  "I  don't  know  that  I 've  ever  met  a  person  more 
able  to  take  care  of  herself;  but  it's  darned  odd  — 
that's  all  I  can  say." 

Just  as  he  spoke  a  volley  of  shots  sounded  from  up 
the  river  near  our  camp,  two  close  together  and  then 
one;  and  somebody  screamed. 

It  was  very  dark.  We  could  see  lanterns  flashing 
at  our  camp  and  somebody  was  yelling  hoarsely.  One 
lantern  seemed  to  run  up  and  down  the  beach  in  mad 
excitement,  and  then,  out  of  the  far-off  din,  Aggie, 
whose  ears  are  sharp,  suddenly  heard  the  splash  of  a 
canoe  paddle. 

248 


TISH  

I  shall  tell  Tish's  story  of  what  happened  as  she 
told  it  to  Charlie  Sands  two  weeks  or  so  later. 

"It  is  perfectly  simple,"  she  said,  "and  it's  stupid 
to  make  such  a  fuss  over  it.  Don't  talk  to  me  about 
breaking  the  law!  The  girl  came;  I  did  n't  steal  her." 

Charlie  Sands,  I  remember,  interrupted  at  that 
moment  to  remind  her  that  she  had  shot  a  hole  in  the 
detective's  canoe;  but  this  only  irritated  her. 

"Certainly  I  did,"  she  snapped;  "but  it's  perfectly 
idiotic  of  him  to  say  that  it  took  off  the  heel  of  his 
shoe.  In  that  stony  country  it's  always  easy  to  lose 
a  heel." 

But  to  return  to  Tish's  story:  — 

"It  occurred  to  me,"  she  said,  "that,  if  the  launch 
had  drifted  to  Mr.  McDonald's  island,  the  canoe 
might  have  done  so  too;  so  I  took  a  look  round.  I'd 
been  pretty  much  worried  about  having  called  the 
boy  a  spy  when  he  was  n't,  and  it  worried  me  to 
think  that  he  could  n't  get  away  from  the  place.  I 
never  liked  the  red-haired  man.  He  was  cruel  to 
Aggie's  cat  —  but  we've  told  you  that. 

"I  knew  that  in  the  morning  the  detective  would 
see  the  P.  T.  S.,  as  we  called  her,  and  he  could  get 
over  and  propose  before  breakfast.  But  when  I  found 
the  canoe  —  yes,  I  found  it  —  I  did  n't  intend  to  do 
anything  more  than  steal  the  detective's  boat." 

"Is  that  all?"  said  Charlie  Sands  sarcastically. 
"You  disappoint  me,  Aunt  Letitia!  With  all  the 
chances  you  had  —  to  burn  his  pitiful  little  tent,  for 
instance,  or  steal  his  suitcase  — " 

249 


TISH 


"But  on  my  way,"  Tish  went  on  with  simple  dig 
nity,  "it  occurred  to  me  that  I  could  move  things  a 
step  farther  by  taking  the  girl  to  Mr.  McDonald  and 
letting  him  have  his  chance  right  away.  Things  went 
well  from  the  start,  for  she  was  standing  alone,  look 
ing  out  over  the  river.  It  was  dark,  except  for  the 
starlight,  and  I  did  n't  know  it  was  she.  I  beached 
the  canoe  and  she  squealed  a  little  when  I  spoke  to 
her." 

"Just  what,"  broke  in  Charlie  Sands,  "does  one 
say  under  such  circumstances?  Sometime  I  may  wish 
to  abduct  a  young  woman  and  it  is  well  to  be  pre 
pared." 

"I  told  her  the  young  man  she  had  expected  was 
on  Island  Eleven  and  had  sent  me  to  get  her.  She 
was  awfully  excited.  She  said  they'd  seen  his  signal, 
but  nothing  of  him.  And  when  they  'd  found  a  num 
ber  of  feminine  things  round  they  all  felt  a  little  — 
well,  you  can  understand.  She  went  back  to  get  a 
coat,  and  while  she  was  gone  I  untied  the  canoes  and 
pushed  them  out  into  the  river.  I  'm  thorough,  and  I 
was  n't  going  to  have  a  lot  of  people  interfering  before 
we  got  things  fixed." 

It  was  here,  I  think,  that  Charlie  Sands  gave  a  low 
moan  and  collapsed  on  the  sofa. 

"Certainly!"  he  said  in  a  stifled  voice.  "I  believe 
in  being  thorough.  And,  of  course,  a  few  canoes  more 
or  less  do  not  matter." 

"Later,"  Tish  said,  "I  knew  I'd  been  thoughtless 
about  the  canoes;  but,  of  course,  it  was  too  late  then." 

250 


TISH  

"And  when  was  it  that  you  assaulted  the  detec 
tive?" 

"He  fired  first,"  said  Tish.  "I  never  felt  more 
peaceable  in  my  life.  It 's  absurd  for  him  to  say  that 
he  was  watching  our  camp,  as  he  had  every  night 
we'd  been  there.  Who  asked  him  to  guard  us?  And 
the  idea  of  his  saying  he  thought  we  were  Indians 
stealing  things,  and  that  he  fired  into  the  air!  The 
bullets  sang  past  me.  I  had  hardly  time  to  get  my 
revolver  out  of  my  stocking." 

"And  then?"  asked  Charlie  Sands. 

"And  then,"  said  Tish,  "we  went  calmly  down  the 
river  to  Island  Eleven.  We  went  rapidly,  for  at  first 
the  detective  did  not  know  I  had  shot  a  hole  in  his 
canoe,  and  he  followed  us.  It  stands  to  reason  that  if 
I'd  shot  his  heel  off  he'd  have  known  there  was  a  hole 
in  the  boat.  Luckily  the  girl  was  in  the  bottom  of 
the  canoe  when  she  fainted  or  we  might  have  been 
upset." 

It  was  at  this  point,  I  believe,  that  Charlie  Sands 
got  his  hat  and  opened  the  door. 

"I  find,"  he  said,  "that  I  cannot  stand  any  more 
at  present,  Aunt  Tish.  I  shall  return  when  I  am 
stronger." 

So  I  shall  go  back  to  my  own  narrative.  Really  my 
justification  is  almost  complete.  Any  one  reading  to 
this  point  will  realize  the  injustice  of  the  things  that 
have  been  said  about  us. 

We  were  despairing  of  Tish,  as  I  have  said,  when 

251 


TISH  

we  heard  the  shots  and  then  the  approach  of  a  canoe. 
Then  Tish  hailed  us. 

"Quick,  somebody!"  she  said.  "I  have  a  cramp  in 
my  right  leg." 

[The  canoeing  position,  kneeling  as  one  must,  had 
been  always  very  trying  for  her.  She  frequently  de 
veloped  cramps,  which  only  a  hot  footbath  relieved.] 

Mr.  McDonald  waded  out  into  the  water.  Our 
beach  fire  illuminated  the  whole  scene  distinctly,  and 
when  he  saw  the  P.  T.  S.  huddled  in  the  canoe  he 
stopped  as  though  he  had  been  shot. 

"How  interesting!"  said  Hutchins  from  the  bank, 
in  her  cool  voice. 

I  remember  yet  Tish,  stamping  round  on  her 
cramped  limb  and  smiling  benevolently  at  all  of  us. 
The  girl,  however,  looked  startled  and  unhappy, 
and  a  little  dizzy.  Hutchins  helped  her  to  a  fallen 
tree. 

"Where  —  where  is  he?"  said  the  P.  T.  S. 

Tish  stared  at  her.  "Bless  the  girl ! "  she  said.  "  Did 
you  think  I  meant  the  other  one?" 

"I—  What  other  one?" 

Tish  put  her  hand  on  Mr.  McDonald's  arm.  "My 
dear  girl,"  she  said,  "this  young  man  adores  you. 
He's  all  that  a  girl  ought  to  want  in  the  man  she  loves. 
I  have  done  him  a  grave  injustice  and  he  has  borne  it 
nobly.  Come  now  —  let  me  put  your  hand  in  his  and 
say  you  will  marry  him." 

"Marry  him!"  said  the  P.  T.  S.  "Why,  I  never 
saw  him  in  my  life  before!" 

252 


TISH 


We  had  been  so  occupied  with  this  astounding 
scene  that  none  of  us  had  noticed  the  arrival  of  the 
detective.  He  limped  rapidly  up  the  bank  —  having 
lost  his  heel,  as  I  have  explained  —  and,  dripping  with 
water,  confronted  us.  When  a  red-haired  person  is 
pale,  he  is  very  pale.  And  his  teeth  showed. 

He  ignored  all  of  us  but  the  P.  T.  S.,  who  turned 
and  saw  him,  and  went  straight  into  his  arms  in  the 
most  unmaidenly  fashion. 

"By  Heaven,"  he  said,  "I  thought  that  elderly 
lunatic  had  taken  you  off  and  killed  you!" 

He  kissed  her  quite  frantically  before  all  of  us;  and 
then,  with  one  arm  round  her,  he  confronted  Tish. 

"I'm  through!  "he  said.  "I'm  done!  There  is  n't 
a  salary  in  the  world  that  will  make  me  stay  within 
gunshot  of  you  another  day."  He  eyed  her  fiercely. 
"You  are  a  dangerous  woman,  madam,"  he  said. 
"I'm  going  to  bring  a  charge  against  you  for  abduc 
tion  and  assault  with  intent  to  kill.  And  if  there 's  any 
proof  needed  I'll  show  my  canoe,  full  of  water  to  the 
gunwale." 

Here  he  kissed  the  girl  again. 

"You  —  you  know  her?"  gasped  Mr.  McDonald, 
and  dropped  on  a  tree-trunk,  as  though  he  were  too 
weak  to  stand. 

"It  looks  like  it,  does  n't  it?" 

Here  I  happened  to  glance  at  Hutchins,  and  she 
was  convulsed  with  mirth!  Tish  saw  her,  too,  and 
glared  at  her;  but  she  seemed  to  get  worse.  Then, 
without  the  slightest  warning,  she  walked  round  the 

253 


TISH 


camp-fire  and  kissed  Mr.  McDonald  solemnly  on  the 
top  of  his  head. 

"I  give  it  up!"  she  said.  "Somebody  will  have  to 
marry  you  and  take  care  of  you.  I'd  better  be  the 
person." 

"But  why  was  the  detective  watching  Hutchins?" 
said  Charlie  Sands.  "Was  it  because  he  had  heard  of 
my  Aunt  Letitia's  reckless  nature?  I  am  still  be 
wildered." 

"You  remember  the  night  we  got  the  worms?" 

"I  see.  The  detective  was  watching  all  of  you  be 
cause  you  stole  the  worms." 

" Stole  nothing ! "  Tish  snapped.  "That 's  the  girl's 
house.  She's  the  Miss  Newcomb  you  read  about  in 
the  papers.  Now  do  you  understand?" 

"Certainly  I  do.  She  was  a  fugitive  from  justice 
because  the  cat  found  dynamite  in  the  woods.  Or  — 
perhaps  I  'm  a  trifle  confused,  but  —  Now  I  have  it  : 
she  had  stolen  a  gold-mounted  traveling-bag  and 
given  it  to  McDonald.  Lucky  chap!  I  was  crazy 
about  Hutchins  myself.  You  might  tip  her  the  word 
that  I'm  badly  off  for  a  traveling-case  myself.  But 
what  about  the  P.  T.  S.?  How  did  she  happen  on  the 
scene?  " 

"She  was  engaged  to  the  detective,  and  she  was 
camping  down  the  river.  He  had  sent  her  word  where 
he  was.  The  red  flag  was  to  help  her  find  him." 

Tish  knows  Charlie  Sands,  so  she  let  him  talk. 
Then:  — 

254 


TISH  

"Mr.  McDonald  was  too  wealthy,  Charlie,"  she 
said;  "so  when  she  wanted  him  to  work  and  be  useful, 
and  he  refused,  she  ran  off  and  got  a  situation  herself 
to  teach  him  a  lesson.  She  could  drive  a  car.  But  her 
people  heard  about  it,  and  that  wretched  detective 
was  responsible  for  her  safety.  That's  why  he  fol 
lowed  her  about." 

"I  should  like  to  follow  her  about  myself,"  said 
Charlie  Sands.  "Do  you  think  she's  unalterably  de 
cided  to  take  McDonald,  money  and  all?  He's  still 
an  idler.  Lend  me  your  car,  Aunt  Tish.  There's  a 
story  there;  and  —  who  knows?" 

"He  is  going  to  work  for  six  months  before  she 
marries  him,"  Tish  said.  "He  seems  to  like  to  work, 
now  he  has  started." 

She  rang  the  bell  and  Hannah  came  to  the  door. 

"Hannah,"  said  Tish  calmly,  "call  up  the  garage 
and  tell  McDonald  to  bring  the  car  round.  Mr.  Sands 
is  going  out." 


MY  COUNTRY  TISH  OF  THEE— 


MY   COUNTRY  TISH   OF 
THEE- 

WE  had  meant  to  go  to  Europe  this  last  summer,  and 
Tish  would  have  gone  anyhow,  war  or  no  war,  if  we 
had  not  switched  her  off  onto  something  else.  "Sub 
marines  fiddlesticks ! "  she  said.  "  Give  me  a  good  life 
preserver,  with  a  bottle  of  blackberry  cordial  fastened 
to  it,  and  the  sea  has  no  terrors  for  me." 

She  said  the  proper  way  to  do,  in  case  the  ship  was 
torpedoed,  was  to  go  up  on  an  upper  deck,  and  let  the 
vessel  sink  under  one. 

"Then  without  haste,"  she  explained,  "as  the 
water  rises  about  one,  strike  out  calmly.  The  life-belt 
supports  one,  but  swim  gently  for  the  exercise.  It  will 
prevent  chilling.  With  a  waterproof  bag  of  crackers, 
and  mild  weather,  one  could  go  on  comfortably  for  a 
day  or  two." 

I  still  remember  the  despairing  face  Aggie  turned 
to  me.  It  was  December  then,  and  very  cold. 

However,  she  said  nothing  more  until  January. 
Early  in  that  month  Charlie  Sands  came  to  Tish's  to 
Sunday  dinner,  and  we  were  all  there.  The  subject 
came  up  then. 

It  was  about  the  time  Tish  took  up  vegetarianism, 
I  remember  that,  because  the  only  way  she  could  in 
duce  Charlie  Sands  to  come  to  dinner  was  to  promise 

259 


TISH  

to  have  two  chops  for  him.  Personally  I  am  not  a 
vegetarian.  I  am  not  and  never  will  be.  I  took  a  firm 
stand  except  when  at  Tish's  home.  But  Aggie  fol 
lowed  Tish's  lead,  of  course,  and  I  believe  lived  up  to 
it  as  far  as  possible,  although  it  is  quite  true  that, 
stopping  in  one  day  unexpectedly  to  secure  a  new 
crochet  pattern,  I  smelled  broiling  steak.  But  Aggie 
explained  that  she  merely  intended  to  use  the  juice 
from  a  small  portion,  having  had  one  of  her  weak 
spells,  the  balance  to  go  to  the  janitor's  dog. 

However,  this  is  a  digression. 

"Europe!  "said  Charlie  Sands.  "Forget  it!  What 
in  the  name  of  the  gastric  juice  is  this  I  'm  eat 
ing?  " 

It  was  a  mixture  of  bran,  raisins,  and  chopped  nuts, 
as  I  recall  it,  moistened  with  water  and  pressed  into  a 
compact  form.  It  was  Tish's  own  invention.  She 
called  it  "Bran-Nut,"  and  was  talking  of  making  it 
in  large  quantities  for  sale. 

Charlie  Sands  gave  it  up  with  a  feeble  gesture. 
"I'm  sorry,  Aunt  Letitia,"  he  said  at  last;  "I'm  a 
strong  man  ordinarily,  but  by  the  time  I've  got  it 
masticated  I'm  too  weak  to  swallow  it.  If  —  if  one 
could  have  a  stream  of  water  playing  on  it  while 
working,  it  would  facilitate  things." 

"The  Ostermaiers,"  said  Aggie,  "are  going  West." 

"Good  for  the  Ostermaiers,"  said  Charlie  Sands. 
"Great  idea.  See  America  first.  'My  Country  Tish 
of  Thee,'  etc.  Why  don't  you  three  try  it?" 

Tish  relinquished  Europe  slowly. 

260 


TISH 


"One  would  think,"  Charlie  Sands  said,  "that  you 
were  a  German  being  asked  to  give  up  Belgium." 

"What  part  of  the  West?"  she  demanded.  "It's 
all  civilized,  is  n't  it?  " 

"The  Rocky  Mountains,"  said  Charlie  Sands,  "will 
never  be  civilized." 

Tish  broke  off  a  piece  of  Bran-Nut,  and  when  she 
thought  no  one  was  looking  poured  a  little  tea  over  it. 
There  was  a  gleam  in  her  eye  that  Aggie  and  I  have 
learned  to  know. 

"Mountains!"  she  said.  "That  ought  to  be  good 
for  Aggie's  hay  fever." 

"I'd  rather  live  with  hay  fever,"  Aggie  put  in 
sharply,  "than  cure  it  by  falling  over  a  precipice." 

"You'll  have  to  take  a  chance  on  that,  of  "course," 
Charlie  Sands  said.  "I'm  not  sure  it  will  be  safe,  but 
I  am  sure  it  will  be  interesting." 

Oh,  he  knew  Tish  well  enough.  Tell  her  a  thing 
was  dangerous,  and  no  power  could  restrain  her. 

I  do  not  mind  saying  that  I  was  not  keen  about  the 
thing.  I  had  my  fortune  told  years  ago,  and  the  palm 
ist  said  that  if  a  certain  line  had  had  a  bend  in  it  I 
should  have  been  hanged.  But  since  it  did  not,  to  be 
careful  of  high  places. 

"It's  a  sporting  chance,"  said  Charlie  Sands,  al 
though  I  was  prodding  him  under  the  table.  "With 
some  good  horses  and  a  bag  of  this  —  er  —  concen 
trated  food,  you  would  have  the  time  of  your  young 
lives." 

This  was  figurative.   We  are  all  of  us  round  fifty. 
261 


TISH 


"The  —  the  Bran-Nut,"  he  said,  "would  serve  for 
both  food  and  ammunition.  I  can  see  you  riding 
along,  now  and  then  dropping  a  piece  of  it  on  the 
head  of  some  unlucky  mountain  goat,  and  watching 
it  topple  over  into  eternity.  I  can  see  — " 

"Riding!"  said  Aggie.  "Then  I'm  not  going.  I 
have  never  been  on  a  horse  and  I  never  intend  to  be." 

"Don't  be  a  fool,"  Tish  snapped.  " If  you 've  never 
been  on  a  horse,  it's  time  and  to  spare  you  got  on 


one." 


Hannah  had  been  clearing  the  table  with  her  lips 
shut  tight.  Hannah  is  an  old  and  privileged  servant 
and  has  a  most  unfortunate  habit  of  speaking  her 
mind.  So  now  she  stopped  beside  Tish. 

"You  take  my  advice  and  go,  Miss  Tish,"  she  said. 
"If  you  ride  a  horse  round  some  and  get  an  appetite, 
you'll  go  down  on  your  knees  and  apologize  to  your 
Maker  for  the  stuff  we've  been  eating  the  last  four 
weeks."  She  turned  to  Charlie  Sands,  and  positively 
her  chin  was  quivering.  "I'm  a  healthy  woman," 
she  said,  "and  I  work  hard  and  need  good  nourishing 
food.  When  it's  come  to  a  point  where  I  eat  the  cat's 
meat  and  let  it  go  hungry,"  she  said,  "it's  time  either 
I  lost  my  appetite  or  Miss  Tish  went  away." 

Well,  Tish  dismissed  Hannah  haughtily  from  the 
room,  and  the  conversation  went  on.  None  of  us  had 
been  far  West,  although  Tish  has  a  sister-in-law  in 
Toledo,  Ohio.  But  owing  to  a  quarrel  over  a  pair  of 
andirons  that  had  been  in  the  family  for  a  long  time, 
she  had  never  visited  her. 


TISH 

"You'll  like  it,  all  of  you,"  Charlie  Sands  said  as 
we  waited  for  the  baked  apples.  "Once  get  started 
with  a  good  horse  between  your  knees,  and  — " 

"I  hope,"  Tish  interrupted  him,  "that  you  do  not 
think  we  are  going  to  ride  astride!" 

"I'm  darned  sure  of  it." 

That  was  Charlie  Sands's  way  of  talking.  He  does 
not  mean  to  be  rude,  and  he  is  really  a  young  man  of 
splendid  character.  But,  as  Tish  says,  contact  with 
the  world,  although  it  has  not  spoiled  him,  has  rough 
ened  his  speech. 

"You  see,"  he  explained,  "there  are  places  out 
there  where  the  horses  have  to  climb  like  goats.  It 's 
only  fair  to  them  to  distribute  your  weight  equally. 
A  side  saddle  is  likely  to  turn  and  drop  you  a  mile  or 
two  down  a  crack." 

Aggie  went  rather  white  and  sneezed  violently. 

But  Tish  looked  thoughtful.  "It  sounds  reason 
able,"  she  said.  "  I  've  felt  for  a  long  time  that  I  'd  be 
glad  to  discard  skirts.  Skirts,"  she  said,  "are  badges 
of  servitude,  survivals  of  the  harem,  reminders  of  a 
time  when  nothing  was  expected  of  women  but  para 
sitic  leisure." 

I  tried  to  tell  her  that  she  was  wrong  about  the 
skirts.  Miss  MacGillicuddy,  our  missionary  in  India, 
had  certainly  said  that  the  women  in  harems  wore 
bloomers.  But  Tish  left  the  room  abruptly,  returning 
shortly  after  with  a  volume  of  the  encyclopaedia,  and 
looked  up  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

I  remember  it  said  that  the  highest  ranges  were,  as 


TISH  

compared  with  the  size  and  shape  of  the  earth,  only 
as  the  corrugations  on  the  skin  of  an  orange.  Either 
the  man  who  wrote  that  had  never  seen  an  orange  or 
he  had  never  seen  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Orange, 
indeed!  If  he  had  said  the  upper  end  of  a  pineapple 
it  would  have  been  more  like  it.  I  wish  the  man  who 
wrote  it  would  go  to  Glacier  Park.  I  am  not  a  vindic 
tive  woman,  but  I  know  one  or  two  places  where  I 
would  like  to  place  him  and  make  him  swallow  that 
orange.  I  'd  like  to  see  him  on  a  horse,  on  the  brink 
of  a  canon  a  mile  deep,  and  have  his  horse  reach  over 
the  edge  for  a  stray  plant  or  two,  or  standing  in  a 
cloud  up  to  his  waist,  so  that,  as  Aggie  so  plaintively 
observed,  "The  lower  half  of  one  is  in  a  snowstorm 
while  the  upper  part  is  getting  sunburned." 

For  we  went.  Oh,  yes,  we  went.  It  is  not  the  en 
cyclopaedia's  fault  that  we  came  back.  But  now  that 
we  are  home,  and  nothing  wrong  except  a  touch  of 
lumbago  that  Tish  got  from  sleeping  on  the  ground, 
and,  of  course,  Aggie's  unfortunate  experience  with 
her  teeth,  I  look  back  on  our  various  adventures  with 
pleasure.  I  even  contemplate  a  return  next  year,  al 
though  Aggie  says  she  will  die  first.  But  even  that  is 
not  to  be  taken  as  final.  The  last  time  I  went  to  see 
her,  she  had  bought  a  revolver  from  the  janitor  and 
was  taking  lessons  in  loading  it. 

The  Ostermaiers  went  also.  Not  with  us,  however. 
The  congregation  made  up  a  purse  for  the  pur 
pose,  and  Tish  and  Aggie  and  I  went  further,  and 
purchased  a  cigar-case  for  Mr.  Ostermaier  and  a 

264 


TISH  

quantity  of  cigars.  Smoking  is  the  good  man's  only 
weakness. 

I  must  say,  however,  that  it  is  absurd  to  hear  Mrs. 
Ostermaier  boasting  of  the  trip.  To  hear  her  talk,  one 
would  think  they  had  done  the  whole  thing,  instead  of 
sitting  in  an  automobile  and  looking  up  at  the  moun 
tains.  I  shall  never  forget  the  day  they  were  in  a  car 
passing  along  a  road,  and  we  crossed  unexpectedly 
ahead  of  them  and  went  on  straight  up  the  side  of  a 
mountain. 

Tish  had  a  sombrero  on  the  side  of  her  head,  and 
was  resting  herself  in  the  saddle  by  having  her  right 
leg  thrown  negligently  over  the  horse's  neck.  With 
the  left  foot  she  was  kicking  our  pack-horse,  a  crea 
ture  so  scarred  with  brands  that  Tish  had  named  her 
Jane,  after  a  cousin  of  hers  who  had  had  so  many  oper 
ations  that  Tish  says  she  is  now  entirely  unfurnished. 

Mr.  Ostermaier's  face  was  terrible,  and  only  two 
days  ago  Mrs.  Ostermaier  came  over  to  ask  about 
putting  an  extra  width  in  the  skirt  to  her  last  winter's 
suit.  But  it  is  my  belief  that  she  came  to  save  Tish's 
soul,  and  nothing  else. 

"I'm  so  glad  wide  skirts  have  come  in,"  she  said. 
"They're  so  modest,  are  n't  they,  Miss  Tish?" 

"Not  in  a  wind,"  Tish  said,  eying  her  coldly. 

"I  do  think,  dear  Miss  Tish,"  she  went  on  with  her 
eyes  down,  "that  to  —  to  go  about  in  riding-breeches 
before  a  young  man  is  —  well,  it  is  hardly  discreet,  is 
it?" 

I  saw  Tish  glancing  about  the  room.  She  was  pretty 

265 


TISH  

angry,  and  I  knew  perfectly  well  what  she  wanted. 
I  put  my  knitting-bag  over  Charlie  Sands's  tobacco- 
pouch. 

Tish  had  learned  to  roll  cigarettes  out  in  Glacier 
Park.  Not  that  she  smoked  them,  of  course,  but  she 
said  she  might  as  well  know  how.  There  was  no  know 
ing  when  it  would  come  in  handy.  And  when  she 
wishes  to  calm  herself  she  reaches  instinctively  for 
what  Bill  used  to  call,  strangely,  "the  makings." 

"If,"  she  said,  her  eye  still  roving,  —  "if  it  was 
any  treat  to  a  twenty-four-year-old  cowpuncher  to 
see  three  elderly  women  in  riding-breeches,  Mrs. 
Ostermaier,  —  and  it's  kind  of  you  to  think  so, — 
why,  I  Jm  not  selfish." 

Mrs.  Ostermaier 's  face  was  terrible.  She  gathered 
up  her  skirt  and  rose.  "I  shall  not  tell  Mr.  Oster 
maier  what  you  have  just  said,"  she  observed  with 
her  mouth  set  hard.  "  We  owe  you  a  great  deal,  es 
pecially  the  return  of  my  earrings.  But  I  must  re 
quest,  Miss  Tish,  that  you  do  not  voice  such  senti 
ments  in  the  Sunday  school." 

Tish  watched  her  out.  Then  she  sat  down  and 
rolled  eleven  cigarettes  for  Charlie  Sands,  one  after 
the  other.  At  last  she  spoke. 

"I'm  not  sure,"  she  said  tartly,  "that  if  I  had  it  to 
do  over  again  I  'd  do  it.  That  woman 's  not  a  Chris 
tian.  I  was  thinking,"  she  went  on,  "of  giving  them 
a  part  of  the  reward  to  go  to  Asbury  Park  with.  But 
she'd  have  to  wear  blinders  on  the  bathing-beach, 
so  I '11  not  do  it." 


TISH  

However,  I  am  ahead  of  my  recital. 

For  a  few  days  Tish  said  nothing  more,  but  one 
Sunday  morning,  walking  home  from  church,  she 
turned  to  me  suddenly  and  said :  — 

"Lizzie,  you're  fat." 

"I'm  as  the  Lord  made  me,"  I  replied  with  some 
spirit. 

"Fiddlesticks!"  said  Tish.  "You're  as  your  own 
sloth  and  overindulgence  has  made  you.  Don't  blame 
the  Good  Man  for  it." 

Now,  I  am  a  peaceful  woman,  and  Tish  is  as  my 
own  sister,  and  indeed  even  more  so.  But  I  was  roused 
to  anger  by  her  speech. 

"I've  been  fleshy  all  my  life,"  I  said.  "I'm  no 
lazier  than  most,  and  I'm  a  dratted  sight  more 
agreeable  than  some  I  know,  on  account  of  having 
the  ends  of  my  nerves  padded." 

But  she  switched  to  another  subject  in  her  char 
acteristic  manner. 

"Have  you  ever  reflected,  either  of  you,"  she  ob 
served,  "that  we  know  nothing  of  this  great  land  of 
ours?  That  we  sing  of  loving  'thy  rocks  and  rills, 
thy  woods  and  templed  hills'  —  although  the  word 
'templed'  savors  of  paganism  and  does  not  belong  in 
a  national  hymn?  And  that  it  is  all  balderdash?" 

Aggie  took  exception  to  this  and  said  that  she  loved 
her  native  land,  and  had  been  south  to  Pinehurst  and 
west  to  see  her  niece  in  Minneapolis,  on  account  of 
the  baby  having  been  named  for  her. 

But  Tish  merely  listened  with  a  grim  smile. 

207 


TISH 


"Travel  from  a  car  window,"  she  observed,  "is  no 
better  than  travel  in  a  nickelodeon.  I  have  done  all 
of  that  I  am  going  to.  I  intend  to  become  acquainted 
with  my  native  land,  closely  acquainted.  State  by 
State  I  shall  wander  over  it,  refreshing  soul  and  body 
and  using  muscles  too  long  unused." 

"Tish!"  Aggie  quavered.  "You  are  not  going  on 
another  walking-tour?" 

Only  a  year  or  two  before  Tish  had  read  Steven 
son's  "Travels  with  a  Donkey,"  and  had  been  pos 
sessed  to  follow  his  example.  I  have  elsewhere  re 
corded  the  details  of  that  terrible  trip.  Even  I  turned 
pale,  I  fear,  and  cast  a  nervous  eye  toward  the  table 
where  Tish  keeps  her  reading-matter. 

Tish  is  imaginative,  and  is  always  influenced  by  the 
latest  book  she  has  read.  For  instance,  a  volume  on 
"Nursing  at  the  Front"  almost  sent  her  across  to 
France,  although  she  cannot  make  a  bed  and  never 
could,  and  turns  pale  at  the  sight  of  blood;  and  an 
other  time  a  book  on  flying  machines  sent  her  up  into 
the  air,  mentally  if  not  literally.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  time  she  secured  some  literature  on  the  Mormon 
Church,  and  the  difficulty  I  had  in  smuggling  it  out 
under  my  coat. 

Tish  did  not  refute  the  walking-tour  at  once,  but 
fell  into  a  deep  reverie. 

It  is  not  her  custom  to  confide  her  plans  to  us  until 
they  are  fully  shaped  and  too  far  on  to  be  interfered 
with,  which  accounts  for  our  nervousness. 

On  arriving  at  her  apartment,  however,  we  found 
268 


TISH 


a  map  laid  out  on  the  table  and  the  Rocky  Mountains 
marked  with  pins.  We  noticed  that  whenever  she 
straightened  from  the  table  she  grunted. 

"What  we  want,"  Tish  said,  "is  isolation.  No  peo 
ple.  No  crowds.  No  servants.  If  I  don't  get  away 
from  Hannah  soon  I'll  murder  her." 

"It  would  n't  hurt  to  see  somebody  now  and  then, 
Tish,"  Aggie  objected. 

"Nobody,"  Tish  said  firmly.  "A  good  horse  is 
companion  enough." 

She  forgot  herself  and  straightened  completely,  and 
she  groaned. 

"We  might  meet  some  desirable  people,  Tish,"  I 
put  in  firmly.  "If  we  do,'  I  don't  intend  to  run  like 
a  rabbit." 

"Desirable  people!"  Tish  scoffed.  "In  the  Rocky 
Mountains!  My  dear  Lizzie,  every  desperado  in  the 
country  takes  refuge  in  the  Rockies.  Of  course,  if 
you  want  to  take  up  with  that  class  — " 

Aggie  sneezed  and  looked  wretched.  As  for  me,  I 
made  up  my  mind  then  and  there  that  if  Letitia  Car- 
berry  was  going  to  such  a  neighborhood,  she  was  not 
going  alone.  I  am  not  much  with  a  revolver,  but 
mighty  handy  with  a  pair  of  lungs. 

Well,  Tish  had  it  all  worked  out.  "I've  found  the 
very  place,"  she  said.  "In  the  first  place,  it's  Gov 
ernment  property.  When  our  country  puts  aside  a 
part  of  itself  as  a  public  domain  we  should  show  our 
appreciation.  In  the  second  place,  it's  wild.  I'd  as 
soon  spend  a  vacation  in  Central  Park  near  the  Zoo  as 

269 


TISH 


in  the  Yellowstone.  In  the  third  place,  with  an  In 
dian  reservation  on  one  side  and  a  national  forest  on 
the  other,  it's  bound  to  be  lonely.  Any  tourist,"  she 
said  scornfully,  "can  go  to  the  Yosemite  and  be 
photographed  under  a  redwood  tree." 

"Do  the  Indians  stay  on  the  reservation?"  Aggie 
asked  feebly. 

"Probably  not,"  Tish  observed  coldly.  "Once  for 
all,  Aggie  —  if  you  are  going  to  run  like  a  scared  deer 
every  time  you  see  an  Indian  or  a  bear,  I  wish  you 
would  go  to  Asbury  Park." 

She  forgot  herself  then  and  sat  down  quickly,  an 
action  which  was  followed  by  an  agonized  expression. 

"Tish,"  I  said  sharply,  "you  have  been  riding  a 
horse!" 

"Only  in  a  cinder  ring,"  she  replied  with  unwonted 
docility.  "The  teacher  said  I  would  be  a  trifle  stiff." 

"How  long  did  you  ride?" 

"Not  more  than  twenty  minutes,"  she  said.  "The 
lesson  was  to  be  an  hour,  but  somebody  put  a  nickel 
in  a  mechanical  piano,  and  the  creature  I  was  on 
started  going  sideways." 

Well,  she  had  fallen  off  and  had  to  be  taken  home 
in  a  taxicab.  When  Aggie  heard  it  she  simply  took 
the  pins  out  of  the  map  and  stuck  them  in  Tish's 
cushion.  Her  mouth  was  set  tight. 

"I  did  n't  really  fall,"  Tish  said.  "I  sat  down,  and 
it  was  cinders,  and  not  hard.  It  has  made  my  neck 
stiff,  that's  all." 

"That's  enough,"  said  Aggie.  "If  I've  got  to  seek 

270 


TISH 


pleasure  by  ramming  my  spinal  column  up  into  my 
skull  and  crowding  my  brains,  I  '11  stay  at  home." 

"You  can't  fall  out  of  a  Western  saddle,"  Tish 
protested  rather  bitterly.  "And  if  I  were  you,  Aggie, 
I  would  n't  worry  about  crowding  my  brains." 

However,  she  probably  regretted  this  speech,  for 
she  added  more  gently:  "A  high  altitude  will  help 
your  hay  fever,  Aggie." 

Aggie  said  with  some  bitterness  that  her  hay  fever 
did  not  need  to  be  helped.  That,  as  far  as  she  could 
see,  it  was  strong  and  flourishing.  At  that  matters 
rested,  except  for  a  bit  of  conversation  just  before  we 
left.  Aggie  had  put  on  her  sweater  vest  and  her 
muffler  and  the  jacket  of  her  winter  suit  and  was 
getting  into  her  fur  coat,  when  Tish  said:  "Soft  as 
mush,  both  of  you!" 

"If  you  think,  Tish  Carberry,"  I  began,  "that 
I—"  " 

"Apple  dumplings!"  said  Tish.  "Sofa  pillows! 
Jellyfish!  Not  a  muscle  to  divide  between  you!" 

I  drew  on  my  woolen  tights  angrily. 

"Elevators!"  Tish  went  on  scornfully.  "Street 
cars  and  taxicabs!  No  wonder  your  bodies  are  mere 
masses  of  protoplasm,  or  cellulose,  or  whatever  it 


is." 


"Since  when,"  said  Aggie,  "have  you  been  walking 
to  develop  yourself,  Tish?  I  must  say  — " 

Here  anger  brought  on  one  of  her  sneezing  attacks, 
and  she  was  unable  to  finish. 

Tish  stood  before  us  oracularly.  "After  next  Sep- 
271 


TISH 


tember,"  she  said,  "y°u  w^  both  scorn  the  sloth  of 
civilization.  You  will  move  about  for  the  joy  of  mov 
ing  about.  You  will  have  cast  off  the  shackles  of  the 
flesh  and  be  born  anew.  That  is,  if  a  plan  of  mine  goes 
through.  Lizzie,  you  will  lose  fifty  pounds!" 

Well,  I  did  n't  want  to  lose  fifty  pounds.  After  our 
summer  in  the  Maine  woods  I  had  gone  back  to  find 
that  my  new  tailor-made  coat,  which  had  fitted  me 
exactly,  and  being  stiffened  with  haircloth  kept  its 
shape  off  and  looked  as  if  I  myself  were  hanging  to 
the  hook,  had  caved  in  on  me  in  several  places.  Just 
as  I  had  gone  to  the  expense  of  having  it  taken  in  I 
began  to  put  on  flesh  again,  and  had  to  have  it  let 
out.  Besides,  no  woman  over  forty  should  ever  re 
duce,  at  least  not  violently.  She  wrinkles.  My  face 
that  summer  had  fallen  into  accordion  plaits,  and  I 
had  the  curious  feeling  of  having  enough  skin  for  two. 

Aggie  had  suggested  at  that  time  that  I  have  my 
cheeks  filled  out  with  paraffin,  which  I  believe  cakes 
and  gives  the  appearance  of  youth.  But  Mrs.  Oster- 
maier  knew  a  woman  who  had  done  so,  and  being  hit 
on  one  side  by  a  snowball,  the  padding  broke  in  half, 
one  part  moving  up  under  her  eye  and  the  second 
lodging  at  the  angle  of  her  jaw.  She  tried  lying  on  a 
hot-water  bottle  to  melt  the  pieces  and  bring  them 
together  again,  but  they  did  not  remain  fixed,  hav 
ing  developed  a  wandering  habit  and  slipping  un 
expectedly  now  and  then.  Mrs.  Ostermaier  says  it 
is  painful  to  watch  her  holding  them  in  place  when 
she  yawns. 

272 


TISH  

Strangely  enough,  however,  a  few  weeks  later 
Tish's  enthusiasm  for  the  West  had  apparently  van 
ished.  When  several  weeks  went  by  and  the  atlas 
had  disappeared  from  her  table,  and  she  had  given 
up  vegetarianism  for  Swedish  movements,  we  felt  that 
we  were  to  have  a  quiet  summer  after  all,  and  Aggie 
wrote  to  a  hotel  in  Asbury  Park  about  rooms  for  July 
and  August. 

There  was  a  real  change  in  Tish.  She  stopped 
knitting  abdominal  bands  for  the  soldiers  in  Europe, 
for  one  thing,  although  she  had  sent  over  almost  a 
dozen  very  tasty  ones.  In  the  evenings,  when  we 
dropped  into  chat  with  her,  she  said  very  little  and 
invariably  dozed  in  her  chair. 

On  one  such  occasion,  Aggie  having  inadvertently 
stepped  on  the  rocker  of  her  chair  while  endeavoring 
by  laying  a  hand  on  Tish's  brow  to  discover  if  she  was 
feverish,  the  chair  tilted  back  and  Tish  wakened  with 
a  jerk. 

She  immediately  fell  to  groaning  and  clasped  her 
hands  to  the  small  of  her  back,  quite  ignoring  poor 
Aggie,  whom  the  chair  had  caught  in  the  epigastric 
region,  and  who  was  compelled  for  some  time  to 
struggle  for  breath. 

"Jumping  Jehoshaphat!"  said  Tish  in  an  angry 
tone.  It  is  rare  for  Tish  to  use  the  name  of  a  Biblical 
character  in  this  way,  but  she  was  clearly  suffering. 
"What  in  the  world  are  you  doing,  Aggie?" 

"T-trying  to  breathe,"  poor  Aggie  replied. 

"Then  I  wish,"  Tish  said  coldly,  "that  you  would 
273 


TISH  

make  the  effort  some  place  else  than  on  the  rocker  of 
my  chair.  You  jarred  me,  and  I  am  in  no  state  to  be 
jarred." 

But  she  refused  to  explain  further,  beyond  saying, 
in  reply  to  a  question  of  mine,  that  she  was  not  fever 
ish  and  that  she  had  not  been  asleep,  having  merely 
closed  her  eyes  to  rest  them.  Also  she  affirmed  that 
she  was  not  taking  riding-lessons.  We  both  noticed, 
however,  that  she  did  not  leave  her  chair  during 
the  time  we  were  there,  and  that  she  was  sitting 
on  the  sofa  cushion  I  had  made  her  for  the  previous 
Christmas,  and  on  which  I  had  embroidered  the 
poet  Moore's  beautiful  words:  "Come,  rest  in  this 
bosom." 

As  Aggie  was  still  feeling  faint,  I  advised  her  to 
take  a  mouthful  of  blackberry  cordial,  which  Tish 
keeps  for  emergencies  in  her  bathroom  closet.  Im 
mediately  following  her  departure  the  calm  of  the 
evening  was  broken  by  a  loud  shriek. 

It  appeared,  on  my  rushing  to  the  bathroom,  while 
Tish  sat  heartlessly  still,  that  Aggie,  not  seeing  a 
glass,  had  placed  the  bottle  to  her  lips  and  taken  quite 
a  large  mouthful  of  liniment,  which  in  color  resembled 
the  cordial.  I  found  her  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the 
bathtub  in  a  state  of  collapse. 

"I'm  poisoned!"  she  groaned.  "Oh,  Lizzie,  I  am 
not  fit  to  die!" 

I  flew  with  the  bottle  to  Tish,  who  was  very  calm 
and  stealthily  rubbing  one  of  her  ankles. 

"Do  her  good,"  Tish  said.  "Take  some  of  the 

274 


TISH  

stiffness  out  of  her  liver,  for  one  thing.  But  you  might 
keep  an  eye  on  her.  It's  full  of  alcohol." 

"What's  the  antidote?"  I  asked,  hearing  Aggie's 
low  groans. 

"The  gold  cure  is  the  only  thing  I  can  think  of  at 
the  moment,"  said  Tish  coldly,  and  started  on  the 
other  ankle. 

I  merely  record  this  incident  to  show  the  change  in 
Tish.  Aggie  was  not  seriously  upset,  although  dizzy 
for  an  hour  or  so  and  very  talkative,  especially  about 
Mr.  Wiggins. 

Tish  was  changed.  Her  life,  which  mostly  had 
been  an  open  book  to  us,  became  filled  with  mystery. 
There  were  whole  days  when  she  was  not  to  be  located 
anywhere,  and  evenings,  as  I  have  stated,  when  she 
dozed  in  her  chair. 

As  usual  when  we  are  worried  about  Tish,  we  con 
sulted  her  nephew,  Charlie  Sands.  But  like  all  mem 
bers  of  the  masculine  sex  he  refused  to  be  worried. 

"She  '11  be  all  right,"  he  observed.  "She  takes 
these  spells.  But  trust  the  old  lady  to  come  up 
smiling." 

"It's  either  Christian  Science  or  osteopathy," 
Aggie  said  dolefully.  "She's  not  herself.  The  fruit 
cake  she  sent  me  the  other  day  tasted  very  queer, 
and  Hannah  thinks  she  put  ointment  in  instead  of 
butter." 

"Ointments!"  observed  Charlie  thoughtfully. 
"And  salves!  By  George,  I  wonder  —  I'll  tell  you," 
he  said:  "I'll  keep  an  eye  open  for  a  few  days.  The 

275 


TISH  

symptoms  sound  like —  But  never  mind.  I '11  let  you 
know." 

We  were  compelled  to  be  satisfied  with  this,  but 
for  several  days  we  lingered  in  anxiety.  During  that 
painful  interval  nothing  occurred  to  enlighten  us, 
except  one  conversation  with  Tish. 

We  had  taken  dinner  with  her,  and  she  seemed  to 
be  all  right  again  and  more  than  usually  active.  She 
had  given  up  the  Bran-Nut  after  breaking  a  tooth  on 
it,  and  was  eating  rare  beef,  which  she  had  heard  was 
digested  in  the  spleen  or  some  such  place,  thus  rest 
ing  the  stomach  for  a  time.  She  left  us,  however, 
immediately  after  the  meal,  and  Hannah,  her  maid, 
tiptoed  into  the  room. 

"I'm  that  nervous  I  could  scream,"  she  said.  "Do 
you  know  what  she 's  doing  now? 

"No,  Hannah,"  I  said  with  bitter  sarcasm.  "Long 
ago  I  learned  never  to  surmise  what  Miss  Tish  is 
doing." 

"She's  in  the  bathroom,  standing  on  one  foot  and 
waving  the  other  in  the  air.  She's  been  doing  it," 
Hannah  said,  "for  weeks.  First  one  foot,  then  the 
other.  And  that  ain't  all." 

"You've  been  spying  on  Miss  Tish,"  Aggie  said. 
"Shame  on  you,  Hannah!" 

"I  have,  Miss  Aggie.  Spy  I  have  and  spy  I  will, 
while  there's  breath  in  my  body.  Twenty  years  have 
I  —  Do  you  know  what  she  does  when  she  comes 
home  from  these  sneakin'  trips  of  hers?  She  sits  in  a 
hot  bath  until  the  wonder  is  that  her  blood  ain't 

276 


TISH 


turned  to  water.  And  after  that  she  uses  liniment. 
Her  underclothes  is  that  stained  up  with  it  that  I  'm 
ashamed  to  hang  'em  out." 

Here  Tish  returned  and,  after  a  suspicious  glance 
at  Hannah,  sat  down.  Aggie  and  I  glanced  at  each 
other.  She  did  not,  as  she  had  for  some  time  past, 
line  the  chair  with  pillows,  and  there  was  an  air  about 
her  almost  of  triumph. 

She  did  not,  however,  volunteer  any  explanation. 
Aggie  and  I  were  driven  to  speculation,  in  which  we 
indulged  on  our  way  home,  Aggie  being  my  guest  at 
the  time,  on  account  of  her  janitor's  children  having 
measles,  and  Aggie  never  having  had  them,  although 
recalling  a  severe  rash  as  a  child,  with  other  measly 
symptoms. 

"She  has  something  in  mind  for  next  summer," 
said  Aggie  apprehensively,  "and  she  is  preparing  her 
strength  *or  it.  Tish  is  forehanded  if  nothing  else." 

"Well,"  I  remarked  with  some  bitterness,  "if  we 
are  going  along  it  might  be  well  to  prepare  us  too." 

"Something,"  Aggie  continued,  "that  requires 
standing  on  one  foot  with  the  other  in  the  air." 

"Don't  drivel,"  said  I.  "She's  not  likely  going  into 
the  Russian  ballet.  She's  training  her  muscles,  that's 
all." 

But  the  mystery  was  solved  the  following  morning 
when  Charlie  Sands  called  me  up. 

"I've  got  it,  beloved  aunt,"  he  said. 

"Got  what?  "said  I. 

"What  the  old  lady  is  up  to.  She's  a  wonder,  and 
277 


TISH  

no  mistake.  Only  I  think  it  was  stingy  of  her  not  to 
let  you  and  Aunt  Aggie  in." 

He  asked  me  to  get  Aggie  and  meet  him  at  the 
)ffice  as  soon  as  possible,  but  he  refused  to  explain 
further.  And  he  continued  to  refuse  until  we  had 
arrived  at  our  destination,  a  large  brick  building  in 
the  center  of  the  city. 

"Now,"  he  said,  "take  a  long  breath  and  go  in. 
And  mind  —  no  excitement." 

We  went  in.  There  was  a  band  playing  and  people 
circling  at  a  mile  a  minute.  In  the  center  there  was 
a  cleared  place,  and  Tish  was  there  on  ice  skates.  An 
instructor  had  her  by  the  arm,  and  as  we  looked  she 
waved  him  off,  gave  herself  a  shove  forward  with  one 
foot,  and  then,  with  her  arms  waving,  she  made  a 
double  curve,  first  on  one  foot  and  then  on  the  other. 

"The  outside  edge,  by  George!"  said  Charlie 
Sands.  "The  old  sport!" 

Unluckily  at  that  moment  Tish  saw  us,  and  sat 
down  violently  on  the  ice.  And  a  quite  nice-looking 
young  man  fell  over  her  and  lay  stunned  for  several 
seconds.  We  rushed  round  the  arena,  expecting  to 
see  them  both  carried  out,  but  Tish  was  uninjured, 
and  came  skating  toward  us  with  her  hands  in  her 
pockets.  It  was  the  young  man  who  had  to  be  assisted 
out. 

"Well,"  she  said,  fetching  up  against  the  railing 
with  a  bang,  "of  course  you  had  to  come  before  I  was 
ready  for  you !  In  a  week  I  '11  really  be  skating." 

We  said  nothing,  but  looked  at  her,  and  I  am  afraid 

278 


TISH 

our  glances  showed  disapproval,  for  she  straightened 
her  hat  with  a  jerk. 

"Well?"  she  said.  "You're  not  tongue-tied  all  of 
a  sudden,  are  you?  Can't  a  woman  take  a  little  exer 
cise  without  her  family  and  friends  coming  snooping 
round  and  acting  as  if  she'd  broken  the  Ten  Com 
mandments?" 

"Breaking  the  Ten  Commandments!"  I  said  with- 
eringly.  "Breaking  a  leg  more  likely.  If  you  could 
have  seen  yourself,  Tish  Carberry,  sprawled  on  that 
ice  at  your  age,  and  both  your  arteries  and  your 
bones  brittle,  as  the  specialist  told  you,  —  and  I 
heard  him  myself,  —  you  'd  take  those  things  off  your 
feet  and  go  home  and  hide  your  head." 

"I  wish  I  had  your  breath,  Lizzie,"  Tish  said. 
"I'd  be  a  submarine  diver." 

Saying  which  she  skated  off,  and  did  not  come  near 
us  again.  A  young  gentleman  went  up  to  her  and 
asked  her  to  skate,  though  I  doubt  if  she  had  ever 
seen  him  before.  And  as  we  left  the  building  in  dis 
approval  they  were  doing  fancy  turns  in  the  middle 
of  the  place,  and  a  crowd  was  gathering  round  them. 

Owing  to  considerable  feeling  being  roused  by  the 
foregoing  incident,  we  did  not  see  much  of  Tish  for  a 
week.  If  a  middle-aged  woman  wants  to  make  a 
spectacle  of  herself,  both  Aggie  and  I  felt  that  she 
needed  to  be  taught  a  lesson.  Besides,  we  knew  Tish. 
With  her,  to  conquer  a  thing  is  to  lose  interest. 

On  the  anniversary  of  the  day  Aggie  became  en 
gaged  to  Mr.  Wiggins,  Tish  asked  us  both  to  dinner, 

279 


TISH  

and  we  buried  the  hatchet,  or  rather  the  skates.  It 
was  when  dessert  came  that  we  realized  how  every 
thing  that  had  occurred  had  been  preparation  for  the 
summer,  and  that  we  were  not  going  to  Asbury  Park, 
after  all. 

"It's  like  this,"  said  Tish.  "Hannah,  go  out  and 
close  the  door,  and  don't  stand  listening.  I  have  fig 
ured  it  all  out,"  she  said,  when  Hannah  had  slammed 
out.  "The  muscles  used  in  skating  are  the  ones  used 
in  mountain-climbing.  Besides,  there  may  be  times 
when  a  pair  of  skates  would  be  handy  going  over  the 
glaciers.  It's  not  called  Glacier  Park  for  nothing,  I 
dare  say.  When  we  went  into  the  Maine  woods  we 
went  unprepared.  This  time  I  intend  to  be  ready  for 
any  emergency." 

But  we  gave  her  little  encouragement.  We  would 
go  along,  and  told  her  so.  But  further  than  that  I 
refused  to  prepare.  I  would  not  skate,  and  said  so. 

"Very  well,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "Don't  blame  me  if 
you  find  yourself  unable  to  cope  with  mountain  hard 
ships.  I  merely  felt  this  way:  if  each  of  us  could  do 
one  thing  well  it  might  be  helpful.  There's  always 
snow,  and  if  Aggie  would  learn  to  use  snowshoes  it 
might  be  valuable." 

"Where  could  I  practice?"  Aggie  demanded. 

But  Tish  went  on,  ignoring  Aggie's  sarcastic  tone. 
"And  if  you,  Lizzie,  would  learn  to  throw  a  lasso, 
or  lariat,  —  I  believe  both  terms  are  correct,  —  it 
would  be  a  great  advantage,  especially  in  case  of 
meeting  ferocious  animals.  The  park  laws  will  not 

280 


TISH  

allow  us  to  kill  them,  and  it  would  be  mighty  con 
venient,  Lizzie.  Not  to  mention  that  it  would  be  an 
accomplishment  few  women  possess." 

I  refused  to  make  the  attempt,  although  Tish  sent 
for  the  clothesline,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  encyclo- 
psedia  made  a  loop  in  the  end  of  it.  Finally  she  be 
came  interested  herself,  and  when  we  left  rather 
downhearted  at  ten  o'clock  she  had  caught  the  rock 
ing-chair  three  times  and  broken  the  clock. 

Aggie  and  I  prepared  with  little  enthusiasm,  I 
must  confess.  We  had  as  much  love  for  the  rocks  and 
rills  of  our  great  country  as  Tish,  but,  as  Aggie  ob 
served,  there  were  rocks  and  rocks,  and  one  could 
love  them  without  climbing  up  them  or  falling  off 
them. 

The  only  comfort  we  had  was  that  Charlie  Sands 
said  that  we  should  ride  ponies,  and  not  horses.  My 
niece's  children  have  a  pony  which  is  very  gentle  and 
not  much  larger  than  a  dog,  which  comes  up  on  the 
porch  for  lumps  of  sugar.  We  were  lured  to  a  false 
sense  of  security,  I  must  say. 

As  far  as  we  could  see,  Tish  was  making  few  prep 
arations  for  the  trip.  She  said  we  could  get  every 
thing  we  needed  at  the  park  entrance,  and  that  the 
riding  was  merely  sitting  in  a  saddle  and  letting  the 
pony  do  the  rest.  But  on  the  21st  of  June,  the  an 
niversary  of  the  day  Aggie  was  to  have  been  married, 
we  went  out  to  decorate  Mr.  Wiggins's  last  resting- 
place,  and  coming  out  of  the  cemetery  we  met  Tish. 

She  was  on  a  horse,  astride! 

281 


TISH  

She  was  not  alone.  A  gentleman  was  riding  beside 
her,  and  he  had  her  horse  by  a  long  leather  strap. 

She  pretended  not  to  see  us,  and  Aggie  unfortu 
nately  waved  her  red  parasol  at  her.  The  result  was 
most  amazing.  The  beast  she  was  on  jerked  itself 
free  in  an  instant,  and  with  the  same  movement,  ap 
parently,  leaped  the  hedge  beside  the  road.  One  mo 
ment  there  was  Tish,  in  a  derby  hat  and  breeches,  and 
the  next  moment  there  was  only  the  gentleman,  with 
his  mouth  open. 

Aggie  collapsed,  moaning,  in  the  road,  and  beyond 
the  hedge  we  could  hear  the  horse  leaping  tombstones 
in  the  cemetery. 

"Oh,  Tish!"  Aggie  wailed. 

I  broke  my  way  through  the  hedge  to  find  what 
was  left  of  her,  while  the  riding-master  bolted  for  the 
gate.  But  to  my  intense  surprise  Tish  was  not  on  the 
ground.  Then  I  saw  her.  She  was  still  on  the  crea 
ture,  and  she  was  coming  back  along  the  road,  with 
her  riding-hat  on  the  back  of  her  head  and  a  gleam 
in  her  eye  that  I  knew  well  enough  was  a  gleam  of 
triumph. 

She  halted  the  thing  beside  me  and  looked  down 
with  a  patronizing  air. 

"He's  a  trifle  nervous  this  morning,"  she  said 
calmly.  "Has  n't  been  worked  enough.  Good  horse, 
though,  —  very  neat  jump." 

Then  she  rode  on  and  out  through  the  gates,  ignor 
ing  Aggie's  pitiful  wail  and  scorning  the  leading- 
string  the  instructor  offered. 

282 


TISH 


We  reached  Glacier  Park  without  difficulty,  al 
though  Tish  insisted  on  talking  to  the  most  ordinary 
people  on  the  train,  and  once,  losing  her,  we  found 
her  in  the  drawing-room  learning  to  play  bridge,  al 
though  not  a  card-player,  except  for  casino.  Though 
nothing  has  ever  been  said,  I  believe  she  learned  when 
too  late  that  they  were  playing  for  money,  as  she 
borrowed  ten  dollars  from  me  late  in  the  afternoon 
and  was  looking  rather  pale. 

"  What  do  you  think?  "  she  said,  while  I  was  getting 
the  money  from  the  safety  pocket  under  my  skirt. 
"The  young  man  who  knocked  me  down  on  the  ice 
that  day  is  on  the  train.  I've  just  exchanged  a  few 
words  with  him.  He  was  not  much  hurt,  although 
unconscious  for  a  short  time.  His  name  is  Bell  — 
James  C.  Bell." 

Soon  after  that  Tish  brought  him  to  us,  and  we  had 
a  nice  talk.  He  said  he  had  not  been  badly  hurt  on 
the  ice,  although  he  got  a  cut  on  the  forehead  from 
Tish's  skate,  requiring  two  stitches. 

After  a  time  he  and  Aggie  went  out  on  the  plat 
form,  only  returning  when  Aggie  got  a  cinder  in  her 
eye. 

"Just  think,"  she  said  as  he  went  for  water  to  use 
in  my  eye-cup,  "he  is  going  to  meet  the  girl  he  is  in 
love  with  out  at  the  park.  She  has  been  there  for 
four  weeks.  They  are  engaged.  He  is  very  much  in 
love.  He  did  n't  talk  of  anything  else." 

She  told  him  she  had  confided  his  tender  secret  to 
us,  and  instead  of  looking  conscious  he  seemed  glad 

283 


TISH 


to  have  three  people  instead  of  one  to  talk  to  about 
her. 

"You  see,  it's  like  this,"  he  said:  "She  is  very  good 
looking,  and  in  her  town  a  moving-picture  company 
has  its  studio.  That  part's  all  right.  I  suppose  we 
have  to  have  movies.  But  the  fool  of  a  director  met  her 
at  a  party,  and  said  she  would  photograph  well  and 
ought  to  be  with  them.  He  offered  her  a  salary,  and 
it  went  to  her  head.  She's  young,"  he  added,  "and 
he  said  she  could  be  as  great  a  hit  as  Mary  Pickford." 

"How  sad!"  said  Aggie.  "But  of  course  she  re 
fused?" 

"Well,  no,  she  liked  the  idea.  It  got  me  worried. 
Worried  her  people  too.  Her  father 's  able  to  give  her 
a  good  home,  and  I  'm  expecting  to  take  that  job  off 
his  hands  in  about  a  year.  But  girls  are  queer.  She 
wanted  to  try  it  awfully." 

It  developed  that  he  had  gone  to  her  folks  about  it, 
and  they'd  offered  her  a  vacation  with  some  of  her 
school  friends  in  Glacier  Park. 

"It's  pretty  wild  out  there,"  he  went  on,  "and  we 
felt  that  the  air,  and  horseback  riding  and  everything, 
would  make  her  forget  the  movies.  I  hope  so.  She's 
there  now.  But  she's  had  the  bug  pretty  hard.  Got 
so  she  was  always  posing,  without  knowing  it." 

But  he  was  hopeful  that  she  would  be  cured,  and 
said  she  was  to  meet  him  at  the  station. 

"She's  an  awfully  nice  girl,  you  understand,"  he 
finished.  "It's  only  that  this  thing  got  hold  of  her 
and  needed  driving  out." 

284 


TISH 


Well,  we  were  watching  when  the  train  drew  in  at 
Glacier  Park  Station,  and  she  was  there.  She  was  a 
very  pretty  girl,  and  it  was  quite  touching  to  see  him 
look  at  her.  But  Aggie  observed  something  and  re 
marked  on  it. 

"She's  not  as  glad  to  see  him  as  he  is  to  see  her," 
she  said.  "He  was  going  to  kiss  her,  and  she  moved 
back." 

In  the  crowd  we  lost  sight  of  them,  but  that  eve 
ning,  sitting  in  the  lobby  of  the  hotel,  we  saw  Mr. 
Bell  wandering  round  alone.  He  looked  depressed, 
and  Aggie  beckoned  to  him. 

"How  is  everything?"  she  asked.  "Is  the  cure 
working?" 

He  dropped  into  a  chair  and  looked  straight  ahead. 

"Not  so  you  could  notice  it!"  he  said  bitterly. 
"Would  you  believe  that  there's  a  moving-picture 
outfit  here,  taking  scenes  in  the  park?" 

"No!" 

"There  is.  They  've  taken  two  thousand  feet  of  her 
already,  dressed  like  an  Indian,"  he  said  in  a  tone  of 
suppressed  fury.  "It  makes  me  sick.  I  dare  say  if 
we  tied  her  in  a  well  some  fool  would  lower  a  camera 
on  a  rope." 

Just  at  that  moment  she  sauntered  past  us  with 
a  reddish-haired  young  man.  Mr.  Bell  ignored  her, 
although  I  saw  her  try  to  catch  his  eye. 

"That's  the  moving-picture  man  with  her,"  he  said 
in  a  low,  violent  tone  when  they  had  passed.  "  Name 's 
Oliver."  He  groaned.  "He's  told  her  she  ought  to 

285 


TISH  

go  in  for  the  business.  She  'd  be  a  second  Mary  Pick- 
ford!  I'd  like  to  kill  him!" 

He  rose  savagely  and  left  us. 

We  spent  the  night  in  the  hotel  at  the  park  en 
trance,  and  I  could  not  get  to  sleep.  Tish  was  busy 
engaging  a  guide  and  going  over  our  supplies,  and  at 
eleven  o'clock  Aggie  came  into  my  room  and  sat  down 
on  the  bed. 

"I  can't  sleep,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "That  poor  Mr. 
Bell  is  on  my  mind.  Besides,  did  you  see  those  fero 
cious  Indians  hanging  round?" 

Well,  I  had  seen  them,  but  said  nothing. 

"They  would  scalp  one  as  quick  as  not,"  Aggie  went 
on.  "And  who's  to  know  but  that  our  guide  will  be 
in  league  with  them?  I've  lost  my  teeth,"  she  said 
with  a  flash  of  spirit,  "but  so  far  I've  kept  my  hair, 
and  mean  to  if  possible.  That  old  Indian  has  a  scalp 
tied  to  the  end  of  a  stick.  Lizzie,  I'm  nervous." 

"If  it  is  only  hair  they  want,  I  don't  mind  their 
taking  my  switch,"  I  observed,  trying  to  be  facetious, 
although  uneasy.  As  to  the  switch,  it  no  longer 
matched  my  hair,  and  I  would  have  parted  from  it 
without  a  pang. 

"And  another  thing,"  said  Aggie:  "Tish  can  talk 
about  ponies  until  she  is  black  in  the  face.  The  crea 
tures  are  horses.  I've  seen  them." 

Well,  I  knew  that,  too,  by  that  time.  As  we  walked 
to  the  hotel  from  the  train  I  had  seen  one  of  them 
carrying  on.  It  was  arching  its  back  like  a  cat  that 's 
just  seen  a  strange  dog,  and  with  every  arch  it  swelled 

286 


a 

•"3 

H    . 


§1 


g« 

I 

W 


TISH  

its  stomach.  At  the  third  heave  it  split  the  strap  that 
held  the  saddle  on,  and  then  it  kicked  up  in  the  rear 
and  sent  saddle  and  rider  over  its  head.  So  far  as  I 
had  seen,  no  casualty  had  resulted,  but  it  had  set  me 
thinking.  Given  a  beast  with  an  India-rubber  spine 
and  no  sense  of  honor,  I  felt  I  would  be  helpless. 

Tish  came  in  just  then  and  we  confronted  her. 

"Ponies!"  I  said  bitterly.  "They  are  horses,  if  I 
know  ahorse.  And,  moreover,  it's  well  enough  for  you, 
Tish  Carberry,  to  talk  about  gripping  a  horse  with 
your  knees.  I  'm  not  built  that  way,  and  you  know  it. 
Besides,  no  knee  grip  will  answer  when  a  creature  be 
gins  to  act  like  a  cat  in  a  fit." 

Aggie  here  had  a  bright  idea.  She  said  that  she  had 
seen  pictures  of  pneumatic  jackets  to  keep  people 
from  drowning,  and  that  Mr.  McKee,  a  buyer  at  one 
of  the  stores  at  home,  had  taken  one,  fully  inflated, 
when  he  crossed  to  Paris  for  autumn  suits. 

"I  would  like  to  have  one,  Tish,"  she  finished.  "It 
would  break  the  force  of  a  fall  anyhow,  even  if  it  did 
puncture." 

Tish,  who  was  still  dressed,  went  out  to  the  curio 
shop  in  the  lobby,  and  returned  with  the  sad  news  that 
there  was  nothing  of  the  sort  on  sale. 

We  were  late  in  getting  started  the  next  morning, 
owing  partly  to  Aggie's  having  put  her  riding-breeches 
on  wrong,  and  being  unable  to  sit  down  when  once  in 
the  saddle.  But  the  main  reason  was  the  guide  we  had 
engaged.  Tish  heard  him  using  profane  language  to 
one  of  the  horses  and  dismissed  him  on  the  spot. 

287 


TISH 

The  man  who  was  providing  our  horses  and  out 
fit,  however,  understood,  and  in  a  short  time  returned 
with  another  man. 

"I've  got  a  good  one  for  you  now,  Miss  Carberry," 
he  said.  "Safe  and  perfectly  gentle,  and  as  mild  as 
milk.  Only  has  one  fault,  and  maybe  you  won't  mind 
that.  He  smokes  considerably." 

"I  don't  object,  as  long  as  it's  in  the  open  air," 
Tish  said. 

So  that  was  arranged.  But  I  must  say  that  the  new 
man  did  not  look  mild.  He  had  red  hair,  although  a 
nice  smile  with  a  gold  tooth,  and  his  trousers  were  of 
white  fur,  which  looked  hot  for  summer. 

"  You  are  sure  that  you  don't  use  strong  language  ?  " 
Tish  asked. 

"No,  ma'am,"  he  said.  "I  was  raised  strict,  and 
very  particular  as  to  swearing.  Dear,  dear  now,  would 
you  look  at  that  cinch!  Blow  up  their  little  tummies, 
they  do,  when  they're  cinched,  and  when  they 
breathe  it  out,  the  saddle 's  as  loose  as  the  tongues  of 
some  of  these  here  tourists." 

Tish  swung  herself  up  without  any  trouble,  but 
owing  to  a  large  canvas  bag  on  the  back  of  my  saddle 
I  was  unable  to  get  my  leg  across,  and  was  compelled 
to  have  it  worked  over,  a  little  at  a  time.  At  last, 
however,  we  were  ready.  A  white  pack-horse,  carry 
ing  our  tents  and  cooking-utensils,  was  led  by  Bill, 
which  proved  to  be  the  name  of  our  cowboy  guide. 

Mr.  Bell  came  to  say  good-bye  and  to  wish  us  luck. 
But  he  looked  unhappy,  and  there  was  no  sign  what- 

288 


TISH  

ever  of  the  young  lady,  whose  name  we  had  learned 
was  Helen. 

"I  may  see  you  on  the  trail/'  he  said  sadly.  "I'm 
about  sick  of  this  place,  and  I  'm  thinking  of  clearing 
out." 

Aggie  reminded  him  that  faint  heart  never  won 
fair  lady,  but  he  only  shook  his  head. 

"I'm  not  so  sure  that  I  want  to  win,"  he  said. 
"Marriage  is  a  serious  business,  and  I  don't  know 
that  I'd  care  to  have  a  wife  that  followed  a  camera 
like  a  street  kid  follows  a  brass  band.  It  would  n't 
make  for  a  quiet  home." 

We  left  him  staring  wistfully  into  the  distance. 

Tish  sat  in  her  saddle  and  surveyed  the  mountain 
peaks  that  rose  behind  the  hotel. 

"Twenty  centuries  are  looking  down  upon  us!" 
she  said.  "The  crest  of  our  native  land  lies  before  us. 
We  will  conquer  those  beetling  crags,  or  die  trying. 
All  right,  Bill.  Forward!" 

Bill  led  off,  followed  by  the  pack-horse,  then  Tish, 
Aggie  and  myself.  We  kept  on  in  this  order  for  some 
time,  which  gave  me  a  chance  to  observe  Aggie  care 
fully.  I  am  not  much  of  a  horsewoman  myself,  having 
never  been  on  a  horse  before.  But  my  father  was 
fond  of  riding,  and  I  soon  adapted  myself  to  the 
horse's  gait,  especially  when  walking.  On  level 
stretches,  however,  where  Bill  spurred  his  horse  to  a 
trot,  I  was  not  so  comfortable,  and  Aggie  appeared 
to  strike  the  saddle  in  a  different  spot  every  time  she 
descended. 

289 


TISH  

Once,  on  her  turning  her  profile  to  me  in  a  glance  of 
despair,  I  was  struck  by  the  strange  and  collapsed 
appearance  of  her  face.  This  was  explained,  however, 
when  my  horse  caught  up  to  hers  on  a  wider  stretch 
of  road,  and  I  saw  that  she  had  taken  out  her  teeth 
and  was  holding  them  in  her  hand. 

"Al-almost  swallowed  them,"  she  gasped.  "Oh, 
Lizzie,  to  think  of  a  summer  of  this!" 

At  last  we  left  the  road  and  turned  onto  a  foot 
path,  which  instantly  commenced  to  rise.  Tish  called 
back  something  about  the  beauties  of  nature  and  rid 
ing  over  a  carpet  of  flowers,  but  my  horse  was  ford 
ing  a  small  stream  at  the  time  and  I  was  too  occupied 
to  reply.  The  path  —  or  trail,  which  is  what  Bill 
called  it  —  grew  more  steep,  and  I  let  go  of  the  lines 
and  held  to  the  horn  of  my  saddle.  The  horses  were 
climbing  like  goats. 

"Tish,"  Aggie  called  desperately,  "I  can't  stand 
this.  I'm  going  back!  I'm —  Lordamighty ! " 

Fortunately  Tish  did  not  hear  this.  We  had  sud 
denly  emerged  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice.  A  two- 
foot  path  clung  to  the  cliff,  and  along  the  very  edge  of 
this  the  horses  walked,  looking  down  in  an  interested 
manner  now  and  then.  My  blood  turned  to  water  and 
I  closed  my  eyes. 

"Tish!"  Aggie  shrieked. 

But  the  only  effect  of  this  was  to  start  her  horse 
into  a  trot.  I  had  closed  my  eyes,  but  I  opened  them 
in  time  to  see  Aggie  give  a  wild  clutch  and  a  low 
moan. 

290 


TISH 

In  a  few  moments  the  trail  left  the  edge,  and  Aggie 
turned  in  her  saddle  and  looked  back  at  me. 

"I  lost  my  lower  set  back  there,"  she  said.  "They 
went  over  the  edge.  I  suppose  they're  falling  yet." 

"It's  a  good  thing  it  was  n't  the  upper  set,"  I  said, 
to  comfort  her.  "As  far  as  appearance  goes  — " 

"Appearance ! "  she  said  bitterly.  "Do  you  suppose 
we'll  meet  anybody  but  desperadoes  and  Indians  in 
a  place  like  this?  And  not  an  egg  with  us,  of  course." 

The  eggs  referred  to  her  diet,  as  at  different  times, 
when  having  her  teeth  repaired,  she  can  eat  little  else. 

"Ham,"  she  called  back  in  a  surly  tone,  "and  hard 
tack,  I  suppose !  I'll  starve,  Lizzie,  that's  all.  If  only 
we  had  brought  some  junket  tablets!" 

With  the  exception  of  this  incident  the  morning 
was  quiet.  Tish  and  Bill  talked  prohibition,  which 
he  believed  in,  and  the  tin  pans  on  the  pack-horse 
clattered,  and  we  got  higher  all  the  time,  and  rode 
through  waterfalls  and  along  the  edge  of  death.  By 
noon  I  did  not  much  care  if  the  horses  fell  over  or  not. 
The  skin  was  off  me  in  a  number  of  places,  and  my 
horse  did  not  like  me,  and  showed  it  by  nipping  back 
at  my  leg  here  and  there. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  riding  through  a  valley  on  a  trail 
six  inches  wide,  Bill's  horse  stepped  on  a  hornets' 
nest.  The  insects  were  probably  dazed  at  first,  but  by 
the  time  Tish's  horse  arrived  they  were  prepared,  and 
the  next  thing  we  knew  Tish's  horse  was  flying  up  the 
mountain-side  as  if  it  had  gone  crazy,  and  Bill  was 
shouting  to  us  to  stop. 

291 


TISH  

The  last  we  saw  of  Tish  for  some  time  was  her 
horse  leaping  a  mountain  stream,  and  jumping  like  a 
kangaroo,  and  Bill  was  following. 

"She'll  be  killed!"  Aggie  cried.  "Oh,  Tish, 
Tish!" 

"Don't  yell,"  I  said.  "You'll  start  the  horses. 
And  for  Heaven's  sake,  Aggie,"  I  added  grimly, 
"remember  that  this  is  a  pleasure  trip." 

It  was  a  half-hour  before  Tish  and  Bill  returned. 
Tish  was  a  chastened  woman.  She  said  little  or  noth 
ing,  but  borrowed  some  ointment  from  me  for  her 
face,  where  the  branches  of  trees  had  scraped  it,  while 
Bill  led  the  horses  round  the  fatal  spot.  I  recall,  how 
ever,  that  she  said  she  wished  now  that  we  had 
brought  the  other  guide. 

"Because  I  feel,"  she  observed,  "that  a  little 
strong  language  would  be  a  relief." 

We  had  luncheon  at  noon  in  a  sylvan  glade,  and 
Aggie  was  pathetic.  She  dipped  a  cracker  in  a  cup  of 
tea,  and  sat  off  by  herself  under  a  tree.  Tish,  how 
ever,  had  recovered  her  spirits. 

"Throw  out  your  chests,  and  breathe  deep  of  this 
pure  air  unsullied  by  civilization,"  she  cried.  "Aggie, 
fill  yourself  with  ozone." 

"Humph!"  said  Aggie.  "It's  about  all  I  will  fill 
myself  with." 

"Think,"  Tish  observed,  "of  the  fools  and  dolts 
who  are  living  under  roofs,  struggling,  contending, 
plotting,  while  all  Nature  awaits  them." 

"With  stings,"  Aggie  said  nastily,  "and  teeth,  and 
292 


TISH 


horns,  and  claws,  and  every  old  thing!  Tish,  I  want 
to  go  back.  I'm  not  happy,  and  I  don't  enjoy  scenery 
when  I'm  not  happy.  Besides,  I  can't  eat  the  land 
scape.'* 

As  I  look  back,  I  believe  it  would  have  been  better 
if  we  had  returned.  I  think  of  that  day,  some  time 
later,  when  we  made  the  long  descent  from  the  Piegan 
Pass  under  such  extraordinary  circumstances,  and  I 
realize  that,  although  worse  for  our  bodies,  which  had 
grown  strong  and  agile,  so  that  I  have,  later  on,  seen 
Aggie  mount  her  horse  on  a  run,  it  would  have  been 
better  for  our  nerves  had  we  returned. 

We  were  all  perfectly  stiff  after  luncheon,  and 
Aggie  was  sulking  also.  Bill  was  compelled  to  lift  us 
into  our  saddles,  and  again  we  started  up  and  up. 
The  trail  was  now  what  he  called  a  "switchback." 
Halfway  up  Aggie  refused  to  go  farther,  but  on  look 
ing  back  decided  not  to  return  either. 

"I  shall  not  go  another  step,"  she  called.  "Here  I 
am,  and  here  I  stay  till  I  die." 

"Very  well,"  Tish  said  from  overhead.  "I  suppose 
you  don't  expect  us  all  to  stay  and  die  with  you.  I  '11 
tell  your  niece  when  I  see  her." 

Aggie  thought  better  of  it,  however,  and  followed 
on,  with  her  eyes  closed  and  her  lips  moving  in  prayer. 
She  happened  to  open  them  at  a  bad  place,  although 
safe  enough,  according  to  Bill,  and  nothing  to  what  we 
were  coming  to  a  few  days  later.  Opening  them  as  she 
did  on  a  ledge  of  rock  which  sloped  steeply  for  what 
appeared  to  be  several  miles  down  on  each  side,  she 

293 


TISH  

uttered  a  piercing  shriek,  followed  by  a  sneeze.  As 
before,  her  horse  started  to  run,  and  Aggie  is,  I  be 
lieve  Bill  said,  the  only  person  in  the  world  who  ever 
took  that  place  at  a  canter. 

We  were  to  take  things  easy  the  first  day,  Bill  ad 
vised.  "Till  you  get  your  muscles  sort  of  eased  up, 
ladies,"  he  said.  "If  you  have  n't  been  riding  astride, 
a  horse's  back  seems  as  wide  as  the  roof  of  a  church. 
But  we  '11  get  a  rest  now.  The  rest  of  the  way  is  walk 
ing." 

"I  can't  walk,"  Aggie  said.  "I  can't  get  my  knees 
together." 

"Sorry,  ma'am,"  said  Bill.  "We're  going  down 
now,  and  the  animals  has  to  be  led.  That 's  one  of  the 
diversions  of  a  trip  like  this.  First  you  ride  and  then 
you  walk.  And  then  you  ride  again.  This  here's  one 
of  the  show  places,  although  easy  of  access  from  the 
entrance.  Be  a  good  place  for  a  holdup,  I  've  always 
said." 

'A  holdup?"  Tish  asked.  Her  enthusiasm  seemed 
to  have  flagged  somewhat,  but  at  this  she  brightened 
up. 

"  Yes'm.  You  see,  we're  near  the  Canadian  border, 
and  it  would  be  easy  for  a  gang  to  slip  over  and  back 
again.  Don't  know  why  we've  never  had  one.  Yel 
lowstone  can  boast  of  a  number." 

I  observed  tartly  that  I  considered  it  nothing  to 
boast  of,  but  Bill  did  not  agree  with  me. 

"It  doesn't  hurt  a  neighborhood  none,"  he  ob 
served.  "Adds  romance,  as  you  might  say." 

294 


. —  TISH  

He  went  on  and,  happening  to  slide  on  a  piece  of 
shale  at  that  moment,  I  sat  down  unexpectedly  and 
the  horse  put  its  foot  on  me. 

I  felt  embittered  and  helpless,  but  the  others  kept 
on. 

"Very  well,"  I  said,  "go  on.  Don't  mind  me.  If 
this  creature  wants  to  sit  in  my  lap,  well  and  good.  I 
expect  it's  tired." 

But  as  they  went  on  callously,  I  was  obliged  to 
shove  the  creature  off  and  to  hobble  on.  Bill  was  still 
babbling  about  holdups,  and  Aggie  was  saying  that 
she  was  sunstruck,  but  of  course  it  did  not  matter. 

We  made  very  slow  progress,  owing  to  taking  fre 
quent  rests,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  we  were  over 
taken  by  Mr.  Bell,  on  foot  and  carrying  a  pack.  He 
would  have  passed  on  without  stopping,  but  Aggie 
hailed  him. 

"Not  going  to  hike,  are  you?"  she  said  pleasantly. 
Aggie  is  fond  of  picking  up  the  vernacular  of  a  region. 

"No,"  he  said  in  a  surly  tone  quite  unlike  his  former 
urbane  manner,  "I'm  merely  taking  this  pack  out 
for  a  walk." 

But  he  stopped  and  mopped  his  face. 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  ladies,"  he  said,  "I'm 
working  off  a  little  steam,  that's  all.  I  was  afraid,  if 
I  stayed  round  the  hotel,  I'd  do  something  I'd  be 
sorry  for.  There  are  times  when  I  am  not  a  fit  com 
panion  for  any  one,  and  this  is  one  of  them." 

We  invited  him  to  join  us,  but  he  refused. 

"No,  I'm  better  alone,"  he  said.  "When  things 

295 


TISH  

get  too  strong  for  me  on  the  trail  I  can  sling  things 
about.  I  Ve  been  throwing  boulders  down  the  moun 
tain  every  now  and  then.  I  'd  just  as  soon  they  hit 
somebody  as  not.  Also,"  he  added,  "I'm  safer  away 
from  any  red-headed  men." 

We  saw  him  glance  at  Bill,  and  understood.  Mr. 
Oliver  was  red-headed. 

"Love's  an  awful  thing,"  said  Bill  as  the  young 
man  went  on,  kicking  stones  out  of  his  way.  "I'm 
glad  I  ain't  got  it." 

Tish  turned  and  eyed  him.  "True  love  is  a  very 
beautiful  thing,"  she  rebuked  him.  "Although  a 
single  woman  myself,  I  believe  in  it.  *  Come  live  with 
me  and  be  my  love,'"  she  quoted,  sitting  down  to 
shake  a  stone  out  of  her  riding-boot. 

Bill  looked  startled.  "I  might  say,"  he  said  hastily, 
"that  I  may  have  misled  you,  ladies.  I'm  married." 

"You  said  you  had  never  been  in  love,"  Tish  said 
sharply. 

"Well,  not  to  say  real  love,"  he  replied.  "She  was 
the  cook  of  an  outfit  I  was  with  and  it  just  came  about 
natural.  She  was  going  to  leave,  which  meant  that 
I  'd  have  to  do  the  cooking,  which  I  ain't  much  at, 
especially  pastry.  So  I  married  her." 

Tish  gave  him  a  scornful  glance  but  said  nothing, 
and  we  went  on. 

We  camped  late  that  afternoon  beside  Two  Medi 
cine  Lake,  and  while  Bill  put  up  the  tents  the  three  of 
us  sat  on  a  log  and  soaked  our  aching  feet  in  the  water 
which  was  melted  glacier,  and  naturally  cold. 

296 


TISH  

What  was  our  surprise,  on  turning  somewhat,  to 
see  the  angry  lover  fishing  on  a  point  near  by.  While 
we  stared  he  pulled  out  a  large  trout,  and  stalked 
away  without  a  glance  in  our  direction.  As  Tish, 
with  her  usual  forethought,  had  brought  a  trout  rod, 
she  hastily  procured  it,  but  without  result. 

"Of  course,"  Aggie  said,  "no  fish!  I  could  eat  a 
piece  of  broiled  fish.  I  dare  say  I  shall  be  skin  and 
bone  at  the  end  of  this  trip  —  and  not  much  skin." 

Bill  had  set  up  the  sleeping-tent  and  built  a  fire, 
and  it  looked  cozy  and  comfortable.  But  Tish  had 
the  young  man  on  her  mind,  and  after  supper  she  put 
on  a  skirt  which  she  had  brought  along  and  went  to 
see  him. 

"I'd  take  him  some  supper,  Bill,"  she  said,  "but 
you  are  correct:  you  are  no  cook." 

She  disappeared  among  the  bushes,  only  to  return 
in  a  short  time,  jerking  off  her  skirt  as  she  came. 

"He  says  all  he  wants  is  to  be  let  alone,"  she  said 
briefly.  "I  must  say  I'm  disappointed  in  him.  He 
was  very  agreeable  before." 

I  pass  without  comment  over  the  night.  Bill  had 
put  up  the  tent  over  the  root  of  a  large  tree,  and  we 
disposed  ourselves  about  it  as  well  as  we  could.  In  the 
course  of  the  night  one  of  the  horses  broke  loose  and 
put  its  head  inside  the  tent.  Owing  to  Aggie's  think 
ing  it  was  a  bear,  Tish  shot  at  it,  fortunately  miss 
ing  it. 

But  the  frightened  animal  ran  away,  and  Bill  was 
until  noon  the  next  day  finding  it.  We  cooked  our 

297 


TISH 

own  breakfast,  and  Tish  made  some  gems,  having 
brought  the  pan  along.  But  the  morning  dragged, 
although  the  scenery  was  lovely. 

At  twelve  Bill  brought  the  horse  back  and  came 
over  to  us. 

"If  you  don't  mind  my  saying  it,  Miss  Carberry," 
he  observed,  "you're  a  bit  too  ready  with  that  gun. 
First  thing  you  know  you'll  put  a  hole  through  me, 
and  then  where  will  you  be?" 

"I've  got  along  without  men  most  of  my  life," 
Tish  said  sharply.  "I  reckon  we'd  manage." 

"Well,"  he  said,  "there's  another  angle  to  it.  Where 
would  I  be?" 

"That's  between  you  and  your  Creator,"  Tish  re 
torted. 

We  went  on  again  that  afternoon,  and  climbed 
another  precipice.  We  saw  no  human  being  except  a 
mountain  goat,  although  Bill  claimed  to  have  seen  a 
bear.  Tish  was  quite  calm  at  all  times,  and  had  got 
so  that  she  could  look  down  into  eternity  without  a 
shudder.  But  Aggie  and  I  were  still  nervous,  and  at 
the  steepest  places  we  got  off  and  walked. 

The  unfortunate  part  was  that  the  exercise  and  the 
mountain  air  made  Aggie  hungry,  and  there  was  little 
that  she  could  eat. 

"If  any  one  had  told  me  a  month  ago,"  she  said, 
mopping  her  forehead,  "that  I  would  be  scaling  the 
peaks  of  my  country  on  crackers  and  tea,  I  would  n't 
have  believed  it.  I  'm  done  out,  Lizzie.  I  can't  climb 
another  inch." 

298 


TISH  

Bill  was  ahead  with  the  pack  horse,  and  Tish,  over 
hearing  her,  called  back  some  advice. 

"Take  your  horse's  tail  and  let  him  pull  you  up, 
Aggie,"  she  said.  "I've  read  it  somewhere." 

Aggie,  although  frequently  complaining,  always 
does  as  Tish  suggests.  So  she  took  the  horse's  tail, 
when  a  totally  unexpected  thing  happened.  Docile 
as  the  creature  generally  was,  it  objected  at  once, 
and  kicked  out  with  both  rear  feet.  In  a  moment, 
it  seemed  to  me,  Aggie  was  gone,  and  her  horse  was 
moving  on  alone. 

"Aggie!"  I  called  in  a  panic. 

Tish  stopped,  and  we  both  looked  about.  Then  we 
saw  her,  lying  on  a  ledge  about  ten  feet  below  the 
trail.  She  was  flat  on  her  back,  and  her  riding-hat  was 
gone.  But  she  was  uninjured,  although  shaken,  for  as 
we  looked  she  sat  up,  and  an  agonized  expression 
came  over  her  face. 

"Aggie!"  I  cried.   "Is  anything  broken?" 

"  Damnation ! "  said  Aggie  in  an  awful  voice.  "  The 
upper  set  is  gone!" 

I  have  set  down  exactly  what  Aggie  said.  I  admit 
that  the  provocation  was  great.  But  Tish  was  not 
one  to  make  allowances,  and  she  turned  and  went  on, 
leaving  us  alone.  She  is  not  without  feeling,  however, 
for  from  the  top  of  the  pass  she  sent  Bill  down  with  a 
rope,  and  we  dragged  poor  Aggie  to  the  trail  again. 
Her  nerves  were  shaken  and  she  was  repentant  also, 
for  when  she  found  that  her  hat  was  gone  she  said 
nothing,  although  her  eyes  took  on  a  hunted  look. 

299 


TISH 

At  the  top  of  the  pass  Tish  was  sitting  on  a  stone. 
She  had  taken  her  mending-box  from  the  saddle, 
where  she  always  kept  it  handy,  and  was  drawing  up 
a  hole  in  her  stocking.  I  observed  to  her  pleasantly 
that  it  was  a  sign  of  scandal  to  mend  clothing  while 
still  on,  but  she  ignored  me,  although,  as  I  reflected 
bitterly,  I  had  not  been  kicked  over  the  cliff. 

It  was  a  subdued  and  speechless  Aggie  who  fol 
lowed  us  that  afternoon  along  the  trail.  As  her  hat 
was  gone,  I  took  the  spare  dish  towel  and  made  a 
turban  for  her,  with  an  end  hanging  down  to  protect 
the  back  of  her  neck.  But  she  expressed  little  grati 
tude,  beyond  observing  that  as  she  was  going  over 
the  edge  piecemeal,  she'd  better  have  done  it  all  at 
once  and  be  through  with  it. 

The  afternoon  wore  away  slowly.  It  seemed  a  long 
time  until  we  reached  our  camping-place,  partly  be 
cause,  although  a  small  eater  ordinarily,  the  air  and 
exercise  had  made  me  feel  famished.  But  the  dis 
agreement  between  Tish  and  Aggie,  owing  to  the 
latter's  unfortunate  exclamation  while  kicked  over 
the  cliff,  made  the  time  seem  longer.  There  was 
not  the  usual  exchange  of  pleasant  nothings  be 
tween  us. 

But  by  six  o'clock  Tish  was  more  amiable,  having 
seen  bear  scratches  on  trees  near  the  camp,  and  an 
ticipating  the  sight  of  a  bear.  She  mixed  up  a  small 
cup  cake  while  Bill  was  putting  up  our  tent,  and  then, 
taking  her  rod,  proceeded  to  fish,  while  Aggie  and  I 
searched  for  grasshoppers.  These  were  few,  owing  to 

300 


TISH  

the  altitude,  but  we  caught  four,  which  we  imprisoned 
in  a  match-box. 

With  them  Tish  caught  four  trout  and,  broiling 
them  nicely,  she  offered  one  to  poor  Aggie.  It  was  a 
peace  offering,  and  taken  as  such,  so  that  we  were 
soon  on  our  former  agreeable  footing,  and  all  for 
gotten. 

The  next  day  it  rained,  and  we  were  obliged  to  sit 
in  the  tent.  Bill  sat  with  us,  and  talked  mainly  of 
desperadoes. 

"As  I  observed  before,"  he  said,  "there  hasn't 
been  any  tourist  holdup  yet.  But  it 's  bound  to  come. 
Take  the  Yellowstone,  now,  —  one  holdup  a  year 's 
the  average,  and  it's  full  of  soldiers  at  that." 

"It's  a  wonder  people  keep  on  going,"  I  observed, 
moving  out  of  a  puddle. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  he  said.  "In  one  way  it 's  good 
business.  I  take  it  this  way :  When  folks  come  West 
they  want  the  West  they've  read  about.  What  do 
they  care  for  irrigation  and  apple  orchards?  What 
they  like  is  danger  and  a  little  gunplay,  the  sort  of 
thing  they  see  in  these  here  moving  pictures." 

"I'm  sure  I  don't,"  Aggie  remarked.  It  was  grow 
ing  dusk,  and  she  peered  out  into  the  forest  round  us. 
"There  is  something  crackling  out  there  now,"  she 
said. 

"Only  a  bear,  likely,"  Bill  assured  her.  "  We  have  a 
sight  of  bears  here.  No,  ma'am,  they  want  danger. 
And  every  holdup 's  an  advertisement.  You  see,  the 
Government  can't  advertise  these  here  parks;  not  the 

301 


TISH 


way  it  should,  anyhow.  But  a  holdup 's  news,  so  the 
papers  print  it,  and  it  sets  people  to  thinking  about 
the  park.  Maybe  they  never  thought  of  the  place  and 
are  arranging  to  go  elsewhere.  Then  along  comes  a 
gang  and  raises  h  — ,  raises  trouble,  and  the  park 's  in 
every  one's  mouth,  so  to  speak.  We  'd  get  consider 
able  business  if  there  was  one  this  summer." 

At  that  moment  the  crackling  outside  increased, 
and  a  shadowy  form  emerged  from  the  bushes.  Even 
Bill  stood  up,  and  Aggie  screamed. 

It  was,  however,  only  poor  Mr.  Bell. 

"Mind  if  I  borrow  some  matches?"  he  said  gruffly. 

"We  can't  lend  matches,"  Tish  replied.  "At  least, 
I  don't  see  the  use  of  sending  them  back  after  they  've 
been  lighted.  We  can  give  you  some." 

"My  mistake,"  he  said. 

That  was  all  he  said,  except  the  word  "Thanks" 
when  I  reached  him  a  box. 

"He's  a  surly  creature,"  Tish  observed  as  he 
crackled  through  the  brush  again.  "  More  than  likely 
that  girl 's  better  off  without  him." 

"He  looks  rather  downhearted,"  Aggie  remarked. 
"  Much  that  we  think  is  temper  is  due  to  unhappiness." 

"Much  of  your  charitable  view  is  due  to  a  good 
dinner  too,"  Tish  said.  "Here  we  are,  in  the  center  of 
a  wilderness,  with  great  peaks  on  every  hand,  and  we 
meet  a  fellow  creature  who  speaks  nine  words,  and  be 
grudges  those.  If  he's  as  stingy  with  money  as  with 
language  she's  had  a  narrow  escape." 

"He's  had  kind  of  a  raw  deal,"  Bill  put  in.  "The 
302 


TISH  

girl  was  stuck  on  him  all  right,  until  this  moving- 
picture  chap  came  along.  He  offered  to  take  some 
pictures  with  her  in  them,  and  it  was  all  off.  They  're 
making  up  a  play  now,  and  she's  to  be  in  it." 

"What  sort  of  a  play?"  Tish  demanded. 

"Sorry  not  to  oblige,"  Bill  replied.  "Can't  say  the 
nature  of  it." 

But  all  of  us  felt  that  Bill  knew  and  would  not  say. 

Tish,  to  whom  a  mystery  is  a  personal  affront,  de 
termined  to  find  out  for  herself;  and  when  later  in  the 
evening  we  saw  the  light  of  Bell's  camp-fire,  it  was 
Tish  herself  who  suggested  that  we  go  over  and  visit 
with  him. 

"We  can  converse  about  various  things,"  she  said, 
"and  take  his  mind  from  his  troubles.  But  it  would 
be  better  not  to  mention  affairs  of  the  heart.  He's 
probably  sensitive." 

So  we  left  Bill  to  look  after  things,  and  went  to  call 
on  Mr.  Bell.  It  was  farther  to  his  camp  than  it  had 
appeared,  and  Tish  unfortunately  ran  into  a  tree  and 
bruised  her  nose  badly.  When  it  had  stopped  bleed 
ing,  however,  we  went  on,  and  at  last  arrived. 

He  was  sitting  on  a  log  by  the  fire,  smoking  a  pipe 
and  looking  very  sad.  Behind  him  was  a  bit  of  a  tent 
not  much  larger  than  an  umbrella. 

Aggie  touched  my  arm.  "  My  heart  aches  for  him," 
she  said.  "There  is  despair  in  his  very  eyes." 

I  do  not  believe  that  at  first  he  was  very  glad  to  see 
us,  but  he  softened  somewhat  when  Tish  held  out  the 
cake  she  had  brought. 

303 


TISH  

That's  very  nice  of  you,"  he  said,  rising.  "I'm 
afraid  I  can't  ask  you  to  sit  down.  The  ground 's  wet 
and  there  is  only  this  log." 

"I've  sat  on  logs  before,"  Tish  replied.  "We 
thought  we'd  call,  seeing  we  are  neighbors.  As  the 
first  comers  it  was  our  place  to  call  first,  of  course." 

"I  see,"  he  said,  and  poked  up  the  fire  with  a  piece 
of  stick. 

"We  felt  that  you  might  be  lonely,"  said  Aggie. 

" I  came  here  to  be  lonely,"  he  replied  gloomily.  "I 
want  to  be  lonely." 

Tish,  however,  was  determined  to  be  cheerful,  and 
asked  him,  as  a  safe  subject,  how  he  felt  about  the 
war. 

"War?"  he  said.  "That's  so,  there  is  a  war.  To 
tell  the  truth,  I  had  forgotten  about  it.  I've  been 
thinking  of  other  things." 

We  saw  that  it  was  going  to  be  difficult  to  cheer  him. 
Tish  tried  the  weather,  which  brought  us  nowhere,  as 
he  merely  grunted.  But  Aggie  broached  the  subject 
of  desperadoes,  and  he  roused  somewhat. 

"There  are  plenty  of  shady  characters  in  the  park," 
he  said  shortly.  "Wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,  that's 
what  they  are." 

"Bill,  our  guide,  says  there  may  be  a  holdup  at  any 
time." 

"Sure  there  is,"  he  said  calmly.  "There's  one  go 
ing  to  be  pulled  off  in  the  next  day  or  two." 

We  sat  petrified,  and  Aggie's  eyes  were  starting  out 
of  her  head. 

304 


TISH 


"All  the  trimmings,"  he  went  on,  staring  at  the 
fire.  "Innocent  and  unsuspecting  tourists,  lunch, 
laughter,  boiled  coffee,  and  cold  ham.  Ambush.  The 
whole  business  —  followed  by  highwaymen  in  flannel 
shirts  and  revolvers.  Dead  tourist  or  two,  desperate 
resistance  —  everything." 

Aggie  rose,  pale  as  an  aspen.  "You  —  you  are 
joking!"  she  cried. 

"Do  I  look  like  it?"  he  demanded  fiercely.  "I  tell 
you  there  is  going  to  be  the  whole  thing.  At  the  end 
the  lovely  girl  will  escape  on  horseback  and  ride 
madly  for  aid.  She  will  meet  the  sheriff  and  a  posse, 
who  are  out  for  a  picnic  or  some  such  damfool  non 
sense,  and  — " 

"Young  man,"  Tish  said  coldly,  "if  you  know  all 
this,  why  are  you  sitting  here  and  not  alarming  the 
authorities?" 

"Pooh!"  he  said  disagreeably.  "It's  a  put-up 
scheme,  to  advertise  the  park.  Yellowstone's  got 
ahead  of  them  this  year,  and  has  had  its  excitement, 
with  all  the  papers  ringing  with  it.  That  was  a  gag, 
too,  probably." 

"Do  you  mean  — " 

"I  mean  considerable,"  he  said.  "That  red 
headed  movie  idiot  will  be  on  a  rise,  taking  the  tourists 
as  they  ride  through.  Of  course  he  does  n't  expect  the 
holdup — not  in  the  papers  anyhow.  He  happens  to 
have  the  camera  trained  on  the  party,  and  gets  it  all. 
Result  —  a  whacking  good  picture,  revolvers  firing 
blank  cartridges,  everything  which  people  will  crowd 

305 


TISH  

to  see.  Oh,  it 's  good  business  all  right.  I  don't  mind 
admitting  that." 

Tish's  face  expressed  the  greatest  rage.  She  rose, 
drawing  herself  to  her  full  height. 

"And  the  tourists?"  she  demanded.  "They  lend 
themselves  to  this  imposition?  To  this  infamy?  To 
this  turpitude?" 

"Certainly  not.  They  think  it 's  the  real  thing.  The 
whole  business  hangs  on  that.  And  as  the  sheriff,  or 
whoever  it  is  in  the  fool  plot,  captures  the  bandits, 
the  party  gets  its  money  back,  and  has  material  for 
conversation  for  the  next  twenty  years." 

"To  think,"  said  Tish,  "of  our  great  National  Gov 
ernment  lending  itself  to  such  a  scheme!" 

"Wrong,"  said  the  young  man.  "It's  a  combina 
tion  of  Western  railroads  and  a  movie  concern  acting 
together." 

"I  trust,"  Tish  observed,  setting  her  lips  firmly, 
"  that  the  tourists  will  protest." 

"The  more  noise,  the  better."  The  young  man, 
though  not  more  cheerful  as  to  appearance,  was  cer 
tainly  more  talkative.  "Trust  a  clergyman  for  yelling 
when  his  pocket's  picked." 

With  one  voice  the  three  of  us  exclaimed:  "Mr. 
Ostermaier!" 

He  was  not  sure  of  the  name,  but  "Helen"  had 
pointed  the  clergyman  out  to  him,  and  it  was  Mr. 
Ostermaier  without  a  doubt. 

We  talked  it  over  with  Bill  when  we  got  back,  and 
he  was  not  as  surprised  as  we'd  expected. 

306 


TISH 


"  Knew  they  were  cooking  up  something.  They  Ve 
got  some  Indians  in  it  too.  Saw  them  rehearsing  old 
Thunder  Mountain  the  other  day  in  nothing  but  a 
breech-clout." 

Tish  reproved  him  for  a  lack  of  delicacy  of  speech, 
and  shortly  afterward  we  went  to  bed.  Owing  to  the 
root  under  the  tent,  and  puddles  here  and  there,  we 
could  not  go  to  sleep  for  a  time,  and  we  discussed  the 
"nefarious  deed,"  as  Tish  aptly  termed  it,  that  was 
about  to  take  place. 

"Although,"  Tish  observed,  "Mr.  Ostermaier  has 
been  receiving  for  so  many  years  that  it  might  be  a 
good  thing,  for  his  soul's  sake,  to  have  him  give  up 
something,  even  if  to  bandits." 

I  dozed  off  after  a  time,  but  awakened  to  find 
Tish  sitting  up,  wide  awake. 

"I've  been  thinking  that  thing  over,  Lizzie,"  she 
said  in  a  low  tone.  "I  believe  it's  our  duty  to  inter 
fere." 

"Of  course,"  I  replied  sarcastically;  "and  be  shown 
all  over  the  country  in  the  movies  making  fools  of 
ourselves." 

"Did  you  notice  that  that  young  man  said  they 
would  be  firing  blank  cartridges?" 

Well,  even  a  blank  cartridge  can  be  a  dangerous 
thing.  Then  and  there  I  reminded  her  of  my  niece's 
boy,  who  was  struck  on  the  Fourth  of  July  by  a  wad 
from  one,  and  had  to  be  watched  for  lockjaw  for 
several  weeks. 

It  was  at  that  moment  that  we  heard  Bill,  who  had 
307 


TISH 


no  tent,  by  choice,  and  lay  under  a  tree,  give  a  Itfud 
whoop,  followed  by  what  was  unmistakably  an  oath. 

"Bear!"  he  yelled.  "Watch  out,  he's  headed  for 
the  tent!  It's  a  grizzly." 

Tish  felt  round  wildly  for  her  revolver,  but  it  was 
gone!  And  the  bear  was  close  by.  We  could  hear  it 
snuffing  about,  and  to  add  to  the  confusion  Aggie 
wakened  and  commenced  to  sneeze  with  terror. 

"Bill!"  Tish  called.   "I've  lost  my  revolver!" 

"  I  took  it,  Miss  Carberry.  But  I  've  been  lying  in  a 
puddle,  and  it  won't  go  off." 

All  hope  seemed  gone.  The  frail  walls  of  our  tent 
were  no  protection  whatever,  and  as  we  all  knew,  even 
a  tree  was  no  refuge  from  a  bear,  which,  as  we  had 
seen  in  the  Zoological  Garden  at  home,  can  climb 
like  a  cat,  only  swifter.  Besides,  none  of  us  could 
climb  a  tree. 

It  was  at  that  moment  that  Tish  had  one  of  those 
inspirations  that  make  her  so  dependable  in  emer 
gencies.  Feeling  round  in  the  tent  for  a  possible 
weapon,  she  touched  a  large  ham,  from  which  we  had 
broiled  a  few  slices  at  supper.  In  her  shadowy  form 
there  was  both  purpose  and  high  courage.  With  a 
single  sweeping  gesture  she  flung  the  ham  at  the  bear 
so  accurately  that  we  heard  the  thud  with  which  it 
struck. 

"What  the  hell  are  you  doing? "  Bill  called  from  a 
safe  distance.  Even  then  we  realized  that  his  restraint 
of  speech  was  a  pose,  pure  and  simple.  "If  you  make 
him  angry  he'll  tear  up  the  whole  place." 

308 


TISH  

But  Tish  did  not  deign  to  answer.  The  rain  had 
ceased,  and  suddenly  the  moon  came  out  and  il 
luminated  the  whole  scene.  We  saw  the  bear  sniffing 
at  the  ham,  which  lay  on  the  ground.  Then  he  picked 
it  up  in  his  jaws  and  stood  looking  about. 

Tish  said  later  that  the  moment  his  teeth  were 
buried  in  the  ham  she  felt  safe.  I  can  still  see  the 
majestic  movement  with  which  she  walked  out  of  the 
tent  and  waved  her  arms. 

"Now,  scat  with  you!"  she  said  firmly.    "Scat!" 

He  "scatted."  Snarling  through  his  nose,  for  fear 
of  dropping  the  ham,  he  turned  and  fled  up  the  moun 
tain-side.  In  the  open  space  Tish  stood  the  conqueror. 
She  yawned  and  glanced  about. 

"Going  to  be  a  nice  night,  after  all,"  she  said. 
"Now,  Bill,  bring  me  that  revolver,  and  if  I  catch  you 
meddling  with  it  again  I'll  put  that  pair  of  fur  rugs 
you  are  so  proud  of  in  the  fire." 

Bill,  who  was  ignorant  of  the  ham,  emerged  sheep 
ishly  into  the  open. 

"Where  the  —  where  the  dickens  did  you  hit  him, 
Miss  Tish?  "he  asked. 

"In  the  stomach,"  Tish  replied  tartly,  and  taking 
her  revolver  went  back  to  the  tent. 

All  the  next  day  Tish  was  quiet.  She  rode  ahead, 
hardly  noticing  the  scenery,  with  her  head  dropped  on 
her  chest.  At  luncheon  she  took  a  sardine  sandwich 
and  withdrew  to  a  tree,  underneath  which  she  sat,  a 
lonely  and  brooding  figure. 

When  luncheon  was  over  and  Aggie  and  I  were 
309 


TISH  

washing  the  dishes  and  hanging  out  the  dish  towels 
to  dry  on  a  bush,  Tish  approached  Bill,  who  was  pour 
ing  water  on  the  fire  to  extinguish  it. 

"Bill,"  she  stated,  "you  came  to  us  under  false 
pretenses.  You  swear,  for  one  thing." 

"Only  under  excitement,  Miss  Tish,"  he  said. 
"And  as  far  as  that  goes,  Miss  Aggie  herself  said  — " 

"Also,"  Tish  went  on  hastily,  "you  said  you  could 
cook.  You  cannot  cook." 

"Now,  look  here,  Miss  Tish,"  he  said  in  a  pleading 
tone,  "I  can  cook.  I  did  n't  claim  to  know  the  whole 
cookbook.  I  can  make  coffee  and  fry  bacon.  How'd 
I  know  you  ladies  wanted  pastry?  As  for  them  canned 
salmon  croquettes  with  white  sauce,  I  reckon  to  make 
them  with  a  little  showing,  and  — " 

"Also,"  said  Tish,  cutting  in  sternly,  "you  took 
away  my  revolver,  and  left  us  helpless  last  night,  and 
in  peril  of  wild  beasts." 

"Tourists  ain't  allowed  to  carry  guns." 

He  attempted  to  look  injured,  but  Tish  ignored 
him. 

"Therefore,"  she  said,  "if  I  am  not  to  send  you 
back  —  which  I  have  been  considering  all  day,  as  I  Ve 
put  up  a  tent  myself  before  this,  and  you  are  only  an 
extra  mouth  to  feed,  which,  as  we  are  one  ham  short, 
is  inconvenient  —  you  will  have  to  justify  my  keep 
ing  you." 

"If  you  will  just  show  me  once  about  them  gems, 
Miss  Tish  —  "he  began. 

But  Tish  cut  him  off.  "No,"  she  said  firmly,  "you 

310 


TISH  

are  too  casual  about  cooking.  And  you  are  no  dish 
washer.  Setting  a  plate  in  a  river  and  letting  the  cur 
rent  wash  it  may  satisfy  cow-punchers.  It  does  n't  go 
with  me.  The  point  is  this :  You  know  all  about  the 
holdup  that  is  going  to  take  place.  Don't  lie.  I  know 
you  know.  Now,  you  take  us  there  and  tell  us  all  you 
know  about  it." 

He  scratched  his  head  reflectively.  "I'll  tell  you," 
he  said.  "I 'm  a  slow  thinker.  Give  me  about  twenty 
minutes  on  it,  will  you?  It's  a  sort  of  secret,  and 
there's  different  ways  of  looking  at  it." 

Tish  took  out  her  watch.  "Twenty  minutes,"  she 
said.  "Start  thinking  now." 

He  wandered  off  and  rolled  a  cigarette.  Later  on, 
as  I  have  said,  he  showed  Tish  how  to  do  it  —  not,  of 
course,  that  she  meant  to  smoke,  but  Tish  is  fond  of 
learning  how  to  do  things.  She  got  so  she  could  roll 
them  with  one  hand,  and  she  does  it  now  in  the  winter 
evenings,  instead  of  rolling  paper  spills  as  formerly. 
When  Charlie  Sands  comes,  she  always  has  a  supply 
ready  for  him,  although  occasionally  somewhat  dry 
from  waiting  for  a  few  weeks. 

At  the  end  of  twenty  minutes  Tish  snapped  her 
watch  shut. 

"Time!"  she  called,  and  Bill  came  back. 

"Well,  I'll  do  it,"  he  said.  "I  don't  know  as 
they'll  put  you  in  the  picture,  but  I'll  see  what  I 
can  do." 

"Picture  nothing!"  Tish  snapped.  "You  take  us 
there  and  hide  us.  That 's  the  point.  There  must  be 

311 


TISH  

caves  round  to  put  us  in,  although  I  don't  insist  on  a 
cave.  They're  damp  usually." 

Well,  he  looked  puzzled,  but  he  agreed.  I  caught 
Aggie's  eye,  and  we  exchanged  glances.  There  was 
trouble  coming,  and  we  knew  it.  Our  long  experience 
with  Tish  had  taught  us  not  to  ask  questions.  "Ours 
but  to  do  and  die,"  as  Aggie  later  said.  But  I  con 
fess  to  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  during  the  remainder  of 
that  day. 

We  changed  our  course  that  afternoon,  turning 
off  at  Saint  Mary's  and  spending  the  night  near 
the  Swiss  Chalet  at  Going-to-the-Sun.  Aggie  and  I 
pleaded  to  spend  the  night  in  the  chalet,  but  Tish  was 
adamant. 

"When  I  am  out  camping,  I  camp,"  she  said.  "I 
can  have  a  bed  at  home,  but  I  cannot  sleep  under  the 
stars,  on  a  bed  of  pine  needles,  and  be  lured  to  rest 
by  the  murmur  of  a  mountain  stream." 

Well,  we  gave  it  up  and  went  with  her.  I  must  say 
that  the  trip  had  improved  us  already.  Except  when 
terrified  or  kicked  by  a  horse,  Aggie  was  not  sneezing 
at  all,  and  I  could  now  climb  into  the  saddle  unas 
sisted.  My  waistbands  were  much  looser,  too,  and 
during  a  short  rest  that  afternoon  I  put  a  dart  in  my 
riding-breeches,  during  the  absence  of  Bill  after  the 
pack-horse,  which  had  strayed. 

It  was  on  that  occasion  that  Tish  told  us  as  much 
of  her  plan  as  she  thought  it  wise  for  us  to  know. 

"The  holdup,"  she  explained,  "is  to  be  the  day 
after  to-morrow  on  the  Piegan  Pass.  Bill  says  there  is 

312 


TISH 


a  level  spot  at  the  top  with  rocks  all  about.  That  is 
the  spot.  The  Ostermaiers  and  their  party  leave  the 
automobiles  at  Many  Glaciers  and  take  horses  to  the 
pass.  It  will  be  worth  coming  clear  to  Montana  to  see 
Mrs.  Ostermaier  on  a  horse." 

"I  still  don't  see,"  Aggie  observed  in  a  quavering 
voice,  "what  we  have  to  do  with  it." 

"Naturally  not,"  said  Tish.  "You'll  know  as  soon 
as  is  good  for  you." 

"I  don't  believe  it  will  ever  be  good  for  me,"  said 
poor  Aggie.  "It  is  n't  good  for  anybody  to  be  near  a 
holdup.  And  I  don't  want  to  be  in  a  moving  picture 
with  no  teeth.  I  'm  not  a  vain  woman,"  she  said,  "but 
I  draw  the  line  at  that." 

But  Tish  ignored  her.  "The  only  trouble,"  she 
said,  "is  having  one  revolver.  If  we  each  had  one  — 
Lizzie,  did  you  bring  any  ink?" 

Well,  I  had,  and  said  so,  but  that  I  needed  it  for 
postcards  when  we  struck  a  settlement. 

Tish  waved  my  objection  aside.  "I  guess  it  can  be 
managed,"  she  observed.  "Bill  has  a  knife.  Yes,  I 
think  it  can  be  done." 

She  and  Bill  engaged  in  an  earnest  conference  that 
afternoon.  At  first  Bill  objected.  I  could  see  him 
shaking  his  head.  Then  Tish  gave  him  something, 
which  Aggie  said  was  money.  I  do  not  know.  She 
had  been  short  of  cash  on  the  train,  but  she  may  have 
had  more  in  her  trunk.  Then  I  saw  Bill  start  to  laugh. 
He  laughed  until  he  had  to  lean  against  a  tree,  al 
though  Tish  was  quite  stern  and  serious. 

313 


TISH  

We  reached  Piegan  Pass  about  three  that  after 
noon,  and  having  inspected  it  and  the  Garden  Wall, 
which  is  a  mile  or  two  high  at  that  point,  we  returned 
to  a  "bench"  where  there  were  some  trees,  and  dis 
mounted. 

Here,  to  our  surprise,  we  found  Mr.  Bell  again. 
As  Tish  remarked,  he  was  better  at  walking  than  at 
talking.  He  looked  surprised  at  seeing  us,  and  was 
much  more  agreeable  than  before. 

"I'm  afraid  I  was  pretty  surly  the  other  night," 
he  said.  "The  truth  is,  I  was  so  blooming  unhappy 
that  I  did  n't  give  a  damn  for  anything." 

But  when  he  saw  that  Bill  was  preparing  to  take  the 
pack  off  the  horse  he  looked  startled. 

"I  say,"  he  said,  "you  don't  mean  to  camp  here, 
do  you?" 

"Such  is  my  intention,"  Tish  observed  grimly. 

"But  look  here.  Just  beyond,  at  the  pass,  is  where 
the  holdup  is  to  take  place  to-morrow." 

"So  I  believe,"  said  Tish.  "What  has  that  to  do 
with  us?  What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"Oh,  I'm  going  to  hang  round." 

"Well,  we  intend  to  hang  round  also." 

He  stood  by  and  watched  our  preparations  for 
camp.  Tish  chose  a  small  grove  for  the  tent,  and  then 
left  us,  clambering  up  the  mountain-side.  She  finally 
disappeared.  Aggie  mixed  some  muffins  for  tea,  and 
we  invited  the  young  man  to  join  us.  But  he  was 
looking  downhearted  again  and  refused. 

However,  when  she  took  them  out  of  the  portable 
314 


TISH  

oven,  nicely  browned,  and  lifting  the  tops  of  each  one 
dropped  in  a  teaspoonful  of  grape  jelly,  he  changed 
his  mind. 

"I'll  stay,  if  you  don't  mind,"  he  said.  "Maybe 
some  decent  food  will  make  me  see  things  clearer." 

When  Tish  descended  at  six  o'clock,  she  looked 
depressed.  "There  is  no  cave,"  she  said,  "although 
I  have  gone  where  a  mountain  goat  would  get  dizzy. 
But  I  have  found  a  good  place  to  hide  the  horses, 
where  we  can  get  them  quickly  when  we  need  them." 

Aggie  was  scooping  the  inside  out  of  her  muffin, 
being  unable  to  eat  the  crust,  but  she  went  quite 
pale. 

"Tish,"  she  said,  "you  have  some  desperate  plan 
in  view,  and  I  am  not  equal  to  it.  I  am  worn  with 
travel  and  soft  food,  and  am  not  as  young  as  I  once 


was." 


"Desperate  nothing!"  said  Tish,  pouring  con 
densed  milk  into  her  tea.  "I  am  going  to  teach  a  lot 
of  idiots  a  lesson,  that's  all.  There  should  be  one 
spot  in  America  free  from  the  advertising  man  and 
his  schemes,  and  this  is  going  to  be  it.  Commer 
cialism,"  she  went  on,  growing  oratorical,  "does  not 
belong  here  among  these  mighty  mountains.  Once 
let  it  start,  and  these  towering  cliffs  will  be  defaced 
with  toothpowder  and  intoxicating-liquor  signs." 

The  young  man  knew  the  plans  for  the  holdup  even 
better  than  Bill.  He  was  able  to  show  us  the  exact 
spot  which  had  been  selected,  and  to  tell  us  the  hour 
at  which  the  Ostermaier  party  was  to  cross  the  pass. 

315 


TISH 


"They'll  lunch  on  the  pass,"  he  said,  "and,  of 
course,  they  suspect  nothing.  The  young  lady  of 
whom  I  spoke  to  you  will  be  one  of  their  party.  She, 
however,  knows  what  is  coming,  and  is,  indeed,  a 
party  to  it.  The  holdup  will  take  place  during 
luncheon." 

Here  his  voice  broke,  and  he  ate  an  entire  muffin 
before  he  went  on:  "The  holdup  will  take  place  on 
the  pass,  the  bandits  having  been  hidden  on  this 
*  bench '  right  here.  Then  the  outlaws,  having  robbed 
the  tourists,  will  steal  the  young  lady  and  escape 
down  the  trail  on  the  other  side.  The  guide,  who  is  in 
the  plot,  will  ride  ahead  in  this  direction  and  raise 
the  alarm.  You  understand,"  he  added,  "that  as  it's 
a  put-up  job,  the  tourists  will  get  all  their  stuff  back. 
I  don't  know  how  that's  to  be  arranged." 

"But  the  girl?"  Tish  asked. 

"She's  to  make  her  escape  later,"  Mr.  Bell  said 
grimly,  "and  will  be  photographed  gall  oping  down  the 
trail,  by  another  idiot  with  a  camera,  who,  of  course, 
just  happens  to  be  on  the  spot.  She'll  do  it  too,"  he 
added  with  a  pathetic  note  of  pride  in  his  voice. 
"She's  got  nerve  enough  for  anything." 

He  drew  a  long  breath,  and  Aggie  poured  him  a 
third  cup  of  tea. 

"I  dare  say  this  will  finish  everything,"  he  said 
dejectedly.  "I  can't  offer  her  any  excitement  like 
this.  We  live  in  a  quiet  suburb,  where  nobody  ever 
fires  a  revolver  except  on  the  Fourth  of  July." 

"What  she  needs,"  Tish  said,  bending  forward, 

316 


TISH  

"is  a  lesson,  Mr.  Bell  —  something  to  make  her  hate 
the  very  thought  of  a  moving  picture  and  shudder 
at  the  sound  of  a  shot." 

"Exactly,"  said  Mr.  Bell.  "I've  thought  of  that. 
Something  to  make  her  gun-shy  and  camera-shy.  It 's 
curious  about  her.  In  some  ways  she's  a  timid  girl. 
She's  afraid  of  thunder,  for  one  thing." 

Tish  bent  forward.  "Do  you  know,"  she  said,  "the 
greatest  weapon  in  the  world?" 

"Weapon?  Well,  I  don't  know.  These  new  Ger 
man  guns  — " 

"The  greatest  weapon  in  the  world,"  Tish  ex 
plained,  "is  ridicule.  Man  is  helpless  against  it.  To 
be  absurd  is  to  be  lost.  When  the  bandits  take  the 
money,  where  do  they  go?" 

"Down  the  other  side  from  the  pass.  A  photog 
rapher  will  photograph  them  there,  making  their 
escape  with  the  loot." 

"And  the  young  lady?" 

"I've  told  you  that,"  he  said  bitterly.  "She  is  to 
be  captured  by  the  attacking  party." 

"They  will  all  be  armed?" 

"Sure,  with  blanks.  The  Indians  have  guns  and 
arrows,  but  the  arrows  have  rubber  tips." 

Tish  rose  majestically.  "Mr.  Bell,"  she  said,  "you 
may  sleep  to-night  the  sleep  of  peace.  When  I  under 
take  a  thing,  I  carry  it  through.  My  friends  will  agree 
with  me.  I  never  fail,  when  my  heart  is  set  on  it.  By 
the  day  after  to-morrow  the  young  lady  in  the  case 
will  hate  the  sight  of  a  camera." 

317 


TISH 


Although  not  disclosing  her  plan,  she  invited  the 
young  man  to  join  us.  But  his  face  fell  and  he  shook 
his  head. 

Tish  said  that  she  did  not  expect  to  need  him,  but 
that,  if  the  time  came,  she  would  blow  three  times  on 
a  police  whistle,  which  she  had,  with  her  usual  fore 
sight,  brought  along.  He  agreed  to  that,  although 
looking  rather  surprised,  and  we  parted  from  him. 

"I  would  advise,"  Tish  said  as  he  moved  away, 
"that  you  conceal  yourself  in  the  valley  below  the 
pass  on  the  other  side." 

He  agreed  to  this,  and  we  separated  for  the  night. 
But  long  after  Aggie  and  I  had  composed  ourselves 
to  rest  Tish  sat  on  a  stone  by  the  camp-fire  and  rolled 
cigarettes. 

At  last  she  came  into  the  tent  and  wakened  us  by 
prodding  us  with  her  foot. 

"Get  all  the  sleep  you  can,"  she  said.  "We'll 
leave  here  at  dawn  to-morrow,  and  there'll  be  little 
rest  for  any  of  us  to-morrow  night." 

At  daylight  next  morning  she  roused  us.  She  was 
dressed,  except  that  she  wore  her  combing-jacket,  and 
her  hair  was  loose  round  her  face. 

"Aggie,  you  make  an  omelet  in  a  hurry,  and, 
Lizzie,  you  will  have  to  get  the  horses." 

"I'll  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  I  said,  sitting  up  on 
the  ground.  "We've  got  a  man  here  for  that.  Be 
sides,  I  have  to  set  the  table." 

"Very  well,"  Tish  replied,  "we  can  stay  here,  I  dare 
say.  Bill's  busy  at  something  I've  set  him  to  doing." 

313 


TISH  

"Whose  fault  is  it,"  I  demanded,  "that  we  are 
here  in 'Greenland's  Icy  Mountains'?  Not  mine.  I'd 
never  heard  of  the  dratted  place.  And  those  horses 
are  five  miles  away  by  now,  most  likely." 

"  Go  and  get  a  cup  of  tea.  You  '11  have  a  little  sense 
then,"  said  Tish,  not  unkindly.  "And  as  for  what 
Bill's  doing,  he's  making  revolvers.  Where's  your 
writing  ink?" 

I  had  none!  I  realized  it  that  moment.  I  had  got  it 
out  at  the  first  camp  to  record  in  my  diary  the  place, 
weather,  temperature,  and  my  own  pulse  rate,  which 
I  had  been  advised  to  watch,  on  account  of  the  effect 
of  altitude  on  the  heart,  and  had  left  the  bottle  sitting 
on  a  stone. 

When  I  confessed  this  to  Tish,  she  was  unjustly 
angry  and  a  trifle  bitter. 

"It's  what  I  deserve,  most  likely,  for  bringing 
along  two  incompetents,"  was  her  brief  remark. 
"Without  ink  we  are  weaponless." 

But  she  is  a  creature  of  resource,  and  a  moment 
later  she  emerged  from  the  tent  and  called  to  Bill  in  a 
cheerful  tone. 

"No  ink,  Bill,"  she  said,  "but  we've  got  black 
berry  cordial,  and  by  mixing  it  with  a  little  soot  we 
may  be  able  to  manage." 

Aggie  demurred  loudly,  as  there  are  occasions  when 
only  a  mouthful  of  the  cordial  enables  her  to  keep 
going.  But  Tish  was  firm.  When  I  went  to  the  fire, 
I  found  Bill  busily  carving  wooden  revolvers,  copying 
Tish's,  which  lay  before  him.  He  had  them  done  well 

319 


TISH  

enough,  and  could  have  gone  for  the  horses  as  easy 
as  not,  but  he  insisted  on  trimming  them  up.  Mine, 
which  I  still  have,  has  a  buffalo  head  carved  on  the 
handle,  and  Aggie's  has  a  wreath  of  leaves  running 
round  the  barrel. 

In  spite  of  Aggie's  wails  Tish  poured  a  large  part 
of  the  blackberry  cordial  into  a  biscuit  pan,  and  put 
in  a  chip  of  wood. 

"It  makes  it  red,"  she  said  doubtfully.  "I  never 
saw  a  red  revolver,  Bill." 

"  Seems  like  an  awful  waste,"  Bill  said.  But  having 
now  completed  the  wreath  he  placed  all  three  weapons 
—  he  had  made  one  for  himself  —  in  the  pan.  The 
last  thing  I  saw,  as  I  started  for  the  horses,  was  the 
three  of  them  standing  about,  looking  down,  and 
Aggie's  face  was  full  of  misery. 

I  was  gone  for  a  half-hour.  The  horses  had  not 
wandered  far,  and  having  mounted  mine,  although 
without  a  saddle,  I  copied  as  well  as  I  could  the  whoop 
Bill  used  to  drive  them  in,  and  rounded  them  up. 
When  I  returned,  driving  them  before  me,  the  pack 
was  ready,  and  on  Tish's  face  was  a  look  of  intense 
satisfaction.  I  soon  perceived  the  reason. 

Lying  on  a  stone  by  the  fire  were  three  of  the  shin 
iest  black  revolvers  any  one  could  want.  I  eyed  Tish 
and  she  explained. 

"Stove  polish,"  she  said.  "Like  a  fool  I'd  forgot 
it.  Gives  a  true  metallic  luster,  as  it  says  on  the 
box." 

Tish  is  very  particular  about  a  stove,  and  even  on 

320 


TISH  

our  camping-trips  we  keep  the  portable  stove  shining 
and  clean. 

"Does  it  come  off?" 

"Well,  more  or  less,"  she  admitted.  "We  can  keep 
the  box  out  and  renew  when  necessary.  It  is  a  great 
comfort,"  she  added,  "to  feel  that  we  are  all  armed. 
We  shall  need  weapons." 

"In  an  emergency,"  I  observed  rather  tartly,  "I 
hope  you  will  not  depend  on  us  too  much.  While  I 
don't  know  what  you  intend  to  do,  if  it  is  anything 
desperate,  just  remember  that  the  only  way  Aggie  or 
I  can  do  any  damage  with  these  things  is  to  thrust 
them  down  somebody's  throat  and  strangle  him  to 
death." 

She  ignored  my  remark,  however,  and  soon  we  were 
on  our  horses  and  moving  along  the  trail  toward  the 
pass. 


II 

IT  will  be  unnecessary  to  remind  those  familiar  with 
Glacier  Park  of  the  trail  which  hugs  the  mountain 
above  timber-line,  and  extends  toward  the  pass  for 
a  mile  or  so,  in  a  long  semicircle  which  curves  in 
ward. 

At  the  end  it  turns  to  the  right  and  mounts  to  an 
acre  or  so  of  level  ground,  with  snow  and  rocks  but 
no  vegetation.  This  is  the  Piegan  Pass.  Behind  it  is 
the  Garden  Wall,  that  stupendous  mass  of  granite 
rising  to  incredible  heights.  On  the  other  side  the 
trail  drops  abruptly,  by  means  of  stepladders  which 
I  have  explained. 

Tish  now  told  us  of  her  plan. 

"The  unfortunate  part  is,"  she  said,  "that  the 
Ostermaiers  will  not  see  us.  I  tried  to  arrange  it  so 
they  could,  but  it  was  impossible.  We  must  content 
ourselves  with  the  knowledge  of  a  good  deed  done." 

Her  plan,  in  brief,  was  this:  The  sham  attacking 
party  was  to  turn  and  ride  away  down  the  far  side  of 
the  pass,  up  which  the  Ostermaiers  had  come.  They 
were,  according  to  the  young  man,  to  take  the  girl 
with  them,  with  the  idea  of  holding  her  for  ransom. 
She  was  to  escape,  however,  while  they  were  lunching 
in  some  secluded  fastness,  and,  riding  back  to  the 
pass,  was  to  meet  there  a  rescue  party,  which  the 

322 


TISH 


Ostermaiers  were  to  meet  on  the  way  down  to  Gun- 
sight  Chalet. 

Tish's  idea  was  this :  We  would  ride  up  while  they 
were  lunching,  pretend  to  think  them  real  bandits, 
paying  no  attention  to  them  if  they  fired  at  us,  as  we 
knew  they  had  only  blank  cartridges,  and,  having 
taken  them  prisoners,  make  them  walk  in  ignominy 
to  the  nearest  camp,  some  miles  farther. 

"Then,"  said  Tish,  "either  they  will  confess  the 
ruse,  and  the  country  will  ring  with  laughter,  or  they 
will  have  to  submit  to  arrest  and  much  unpleasant 
ness.  It  will  be  a  severe  lesson." 

We  reached  the  pass  safely,  and  on  the  way  down 
the  other  side  we  passed  Mr.  Oliver,  the  moving- 
picture  man,  with  his  outfit  on  a  horse.  He  touched 
his  hat  politely  and  moved  out  on  a  ledge  to  let  us  by. 

"Mind  if  I  take  you  as  you  go  down  the  moun 
tain?"  he  called.  "It's  a  bully  place  for  a  picture." 
He  stared  at  Aggie,  who  was  muffled  in  a  cape  and 
had  the  dish  towel  round  her  head.  "I'd  particularly 
like  to  get  your  Arab,"  he  said.  "The  Far  East  and 
the  Far  West,  you  know." 

Aggie  gave  him  a  furious  glance.  "Arab  nothing! " 
she  snapped.  "If  you  can't  tell  a  Christian  lady  from 
a  heathen,  on  account  of  her  having  lost  her  hat,  then 
you  belong  in  the  dirty  work  you're  doing." 

"Aggie,  be  quiet!"  Tish  said  in  an  awful  voice. 

But  wrath  had  made  Aggie  reckless.  "'  Dirty 
work'  was  what  I  said,"  she  repeated,  staring  at  the 
young  man. 

323 


TISH  

"I  beg  your  pardon.   I'm  sure  I  — " 

"Don't  think,"  Aggie  went  on,  to  Tish's  fury, 
"that  we  don't  know  a  few  things.  We  do." 

"I  see,"  he  said  slowly.  "All  right.  Although  I'd 
like  to  know  — " 

"Good-morning,"  said  Aggie,  and  kicked  her  horse 
to  go  on. 

I  shall  never  forget  Tish's  face.  Round  the  next 
bend  she  got  off  her  horse  and  confronted  Aggie. 

"The  older  I  get,  Aggie  Pilkington,"  she  said,  "the 
more  I  realize  that  to  take  you  anywhere  means  ruin. 
We  are  done  now.  All  our  labor  is  for  nothing.  There 
will  be  no  holdup,  no  nothing.  They  are  scared 
off." 

But  Aggie  was  still  angry.  "Just  let  some  one  take 
you  for  a  lousy  Bedouin,  Tish,"  she  said,  "and  see 
what  you  would  do.  I'm  not  sorry  anyhow.  I  never 
did  like  the  idea." 

But  Tish  dislikes  relinquishing  an  idea,  once  it  has 
taken  hold.  And,  although  she  did  not  speak  to  Aggie 
again  for  the  next  hour,  she  went  ahead  with  her 
preparations. 

"There's  still  a  chance,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "It's 
not  likely  they'll  give  up  easy,  on  account  of  hiring 
the  Indians  and  everything." 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  down  the  trail,  she  picked 
out  a  place  to  hide.  This  time  there  was  a  cave.  We 
cleared  our  saddles  for  action,  as  Tish  proposed  to  let 
them  escape  past  us  with  the  girl,  and  then  to  follow 
them  rapidly,  stealing  upon  them  if  possible  while 

324 


3 

8 

«    ~ 


H    H 


5 
s  ^ 

s§ 


TISH  

they  were  at  luncheon,  and  covering  them  with  the 
one  real  revolver  and  the  three  wooden  ones. 

The  only  thing  that  bothered  us  was  Bill's  attitude. 
He  kept  laughing  to  himself  and  muttering,  and  when 
he  was  storing  things  in  the  cave,  Tish  took  me  aside. 

"I  don't  like  his  attitude,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "He's 
likely  to  giggle  or  do  something  silly,  just  at  the  cru 
cial  moment.  I  cannot  understand  why  he  thinks  it  is 
funny,  but  he  does.  We'd  be  much  better  without 
him." 

"You'd  better  talk  to  him,  Tish,"  I  said.  "You 
can't  get  rid  of  him  now." 

But  to  tell  Tish  she  cannot  do  a  thing  is  to  deter 
mine  her  to  do  it. 

It  was  still  early,  only  half -past  eight,  when  she 
came  to  me  with  an  eager  face. 

"  I  've  got  it,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "  I  '11  send  off  Mona 
Lisa,  and  he  will  have  to  search  for  her.  The  only 
thing  is,  she  won't  move  unless  she's  driven.  If  we 
could  only  find  a  hornet's  nest  again,  we  could  man 
age.  It  may  be  cruel,  but  I  understand  that  a  hornet's 
sting  is  not  as  painful  to  a  horse  as  to  a  human  being." 

Mona  Lisa,  I  must  explain,  was  the  pack-horse. 
Tish  had  changed  her  name  from  Jane  to  Mona  Lisa 
because  in  the  mornings  she  was  constantly  missing, 
and  having  to  be  looked  for. 

Tish  disappeared  for  a  time,  and  we  settled  down 
to  our  long  wait.  Bill  put  another  coat  of  stove  polish 
on  the  weapons,  and  broke  now  and  then  into  silent 
laughter.  On  my  giving  him  a  haughty  glance,  how- 

325 


TISH  

ever,  he  became  sober  and  rubbed  with  redoubled 
vigor. 

In  a  half -hour,  however,  I  saw  Tish  beckoning  to  me 
from  a  distance,  and  I  went  to  her.  I  soon  saw  that 
she  was  holding  her  handkerchief  to  one  cheek,  but 
when  I  mentioned  the  fact  she  ignored  me. 

" I  have  found  a  nest,  Lizzie,"  she  cried.  "Slip  over 
and  unfasten  Mona  Lisa.  She's  not  near  the  other 
horses,  which  is  fortunate." 

I  then  perceived  that  Tish's  yellow  slicker  was  be 
hind  her  on  the  ground  and  tied  into  a  bundle,  from 
which  emerged  a  dull  roaring.  I  was  wondering  how 
Tish  expected  to  open  it,  when  she  settled  the  ques 
tion  by  asking  me  to  cut  a  piece  from  the  mosquito 
netting  which  we  put  in  the  doorway  of  the  tent  at 
night,  and  to  bring  her  riding-gloves. 

Aggie  was  darning  a  hole  in  the  tablecloth  when 
I  went  back  and  Bill  was  still  engaged  with  the 
weapons.  Having  taken  what  she  required  to  Tish, 
under  pretense  of  giving  Mona  Lisa  a  lump  of  sugar, 
I  untied  her.  What  followed  was  exactly  as  Tish  had 
planned.  Mona  Lisa,  not  realizing  her  freedom, 
stood  still  while  Tish  untied  the  slicker  and  freed  its 
furious  inmates.  She  then  dropped  the  whole  thing 
under  the  unfortunate  animal,  and  retreated,  not  too 
rapidly,  for  fear  of  drawing  Bill's  attention.  For  pos 
sibly  sixty  seconds  nothing  happened,  except  that 
Mona  Lisa  raised  her  head  and  appeared  to  listen. 
Then,  with  a  loud  scream,  she  threw  up  her  head  and 
bolted.  By  the  time  Bill  had  put  down  the  stove  brush 

326 


IT   WOULD   BE  JUST  LIKE  THE   WOMAN  TO   REFUSE   TO 
COME   ANY  FARTHER  AND  SPOIL  EVERYTHING" 


TISH  

she  was  out  of  sight  among  the  trees,  but  we  could 
hear  her  leaping  and  scrambling  through  the  wood. 

"Jumping  cats!"  said  Bill,  and  ran  for  his  horse. 
"Acts  as  though  she'd  started  for  the  Coast!"  he 
yelled  to  me,  and  flung  after  her. 

When  he  had  disappeared,  Tish  came  out  of  the 
woods,  and,  getting  a  kettle  of  boiling  water,  poured 
it  over  the  nest.  In  spite  of  the  netting,  however,  she 
was  stung  again,  on  the  back  of  the  neck,  and  spent 
the  rest  of  the  morning  holding  wet  mud  to  the  af 
fected  parts. 

Her  brain,  however,  was  as  active  as  ever,  and  by 
half -past  eleven,  mounting  a  boulder,  she  announced 
that  she  could  see  the  Ostermaier  party  far  down  the 
trail,  and  that  m  an  hour  they  would  probably  be  at 
the  top.  She  had  her  field-glasses,  and  she  said  that 
Mrs.  Ostermaier  was  pointing  up  to  the  pass  and 
shaking  her  head,  and  that  the  others  were  arguing 
with  her. 

"It  would  be  just  like  the  woman,"  Tish  said  bit 
terly,  "to  refuse  to  come  any  farther  and  spoil  every 
thing." 

But  a  little  later  she  announced  that  the  guide  was 
leading  Mrs.  Ostermaier 's  horse  and  that  they  were 
ooming  on. 

We  immediately  retreated  to  the  cave  and  waited, 
it  being  Tish's  intention  to  allow  them  to  reach  the 
pass  without  suspecting  our  presence,  and  only  to  cut 
off  the  pseudo-bandits  in  their  retreat,  as  I  have  ex 
plained. 

327 


TISH 

It  was  well  that  we  had  concealed  the  horses  also, 
for  the  party  stopped  near  the  cave,  and  Mrs.  Oster- 
maier  was  weeping.  "Not  a  step  farther!"  she  said. 
"I  have  a  family  to  consider,  .and  Mr.  Ostermaier  is 
a  man  of  wide  usefulness  and  cannot  be  spared." 

We  did  not  dare  to  look  out,  but  we  heard  the 
young  lady  speaking,  and  as  Aggie  remarked  later, 
no  one  would  have  thought,  from  the  sweetness  of  her 
voice,  that  she  was  a  creature  of  duplicity. 

"But  it  is  perfectly  safe,  dear  Mrs.  Ostermaier," 
she  said.  "And  think,  when  you  go  home,  of  being 
able  to  say  that  you  have  climbed  a  mountain  pass." 

"Pass!"  sniffed  Mrs.  Ostermaier.  "Pass  nothing! 
I  don't  call  a  wall  a  mile  high  a  pass." 

"Think,"  said  the  girl,  "of  being  able  to  crow  over 
those  three  old  women  who  are  always  boasting  of 
the  things  they  do.  Probably  you  are  right,  and  they 
never  do  them  at  all,  but  you  —  there's  a  moving- 
picture  man  waiting,  remember,  and  you  can  show 
the  picture  before  the  Dorcas  Society.  No  one  can 
ever  doubt  that  you  have  done  a  courageous  thing. 
You'll  have  the  proof." 

"George,"  said  Mrs.  Ostermaier  in  a  small  voice, 
"  if  anything  happens,  I  have  told  you  how  I  want  my 
things  divided." 

"Little  devil!"  whispered  Aggie,  referring  to  the 
girl.  "If  that  young  man  knows  when  he  is  well  off, 
he'll  let  her  go." 

But  beyond  rebuking  her  for  the  epithet,  Tish  made 
no  comment,  and  the  party  moved  on.  We  lost  them 

328 


TISH  

for  a  time  among  the  trees,  but  when  they  moved  out 
above  timber-line  we  were  able  to  watch  them,  and 
we  saw  that  Mrs.  Ostermaier  got  off  her  horse,  about 
halfway  up,  and  climbed  slowly  on  foot.  Tish,  who 
had  the  glasses,  said  that  she  looked  purple  and  angry, 
and  that  she  distinctly  saw  the  guide  give  her  some 
thing  to  drink  out  of  a  bottle.  It  might,  however, 
have  been  vichy  or  some  similar  innocent  beverage, 
and  I  believe  in  giving  her  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

When  at  last  they  vanished  over  the  edge  of  the 
pass,  we  led  out  our  horses  and  prepared  for  what  was 
to  come.  Bill  had  not  returned,  and,  indeed,  we  did 
not  see  him  until  the  evening  of  the  second  day  after 
that,  when,  worn  but  triumphant,  we  emerged  from 
the  trail  at  the  Many  Glaciers  Hotel.  That,  however, 
comes  later  in  this  narrative. 

With  everything  prepared,  Tish  judged  it  best  to 
have  luncheon.  I  made  a  few  mayonnaise-and-lettuce 
sandwiches,  beating  the  mayonnaise  in  the  cool  re 
cesses  of  the  cave,  and  we  drank  some  iced  tea,  to 
which  Aggie  had  thoughtfully  added  sliced  lemon 
and  a  quantity  of  ginger  ale.  Feeling  much  refreshed, 
we  grasped  our  weapons  and  waited. 

At  half -past  twelve  we  heard  a  loud  shriek  on  the 
pass,  far  overhead,  followed  almost  immediately  by  a 
fusillade  of  shots.  Then  a  silence,  followed  by  more 
shots.  Then  a  solitary  horseman  rode  over  the  edge 
of  the  pass  and,  spurring  his  horse,  rode  recklessly 
down  the  precipitous  trail.  Aggie  exclaimed  that  it 
was  Mr.  Ostermaier,  basely  deserting  his  wife  in  her 

329 


TISH 


apparent  hour  of  need.  But  Tish,  who  had  the  glasses, 
reported  finally  that  it  was  the  moving-picture  man. 

We  were  greatly  surprised,  as  it  had  not  occurred 
to  us  that  this  would  be  a  part  of  the  program. 

As  he  descended,  Tish  announced  that  there  must  be 
another  photographer  on  top,  as  he  was  "registering" 
signs  of  terror  —  a  moving-picture  expression  which 
she  had  acquired  from  Charlie  Sands  —  and  looking 
back  frequently  over  his  shoulder. 

We  waited  until  he  reached  timber-line,  and  then 
withdrew  to  a  group  of  trees.  It  was  not  our  intention 
to  allow  him  to  see  us  and  spoil  everything.  But  when 
he  came  near,  through  the  woods,  and  his  horse  con 
tinued  at  unabated  speed,  Tish  decided  that  the  ani 
mal,  frightened  by  the  shots,  was  running  away. 

She  therefore  placed  herself  across  the  trail  to  check 
its  headlong  speed,  but  the  animal  merely  rushed 
round  her.  Mr.  Oliver  yelled  something  at  us,  which 
we  were,  however,  unable  to  hear,  and  kept  madly  on. 

Almost  immediately  four  men,  firing  back  over 
their  shoulders,  rode  into  sight  at  the  pass  and  came 
swiftly  down  toward  us. 

"Where's  the  girl?"  Tish  cried  with  her  glasses  to 
her  eyes.  "The  idiots  have  got  excited  and  have  for 
gotten  to  steal  her." 

That  was  plainly  what  had  happened,  but  she  was 
determined  to  be  stolen  anyhow,  for  the  next  moment 
she  rode  into  view,  furiously  following  the  bandits. 

"She's  kept  her  head  anyhow,"  Tish  observed  with 
satisfaction.  "Trust  a  lot  of  men  to  go  crazy  and  do 

330 


TISH  

the  wrong  thing.    But  they'll  have  to  change  the 
story  and  make  her  follow  them." 

At  timber-line  the  men  seemed  to  realize  that  she 
was  behind  them,  and  they  turned  and  looked  up. 
They  seemed  to  be  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do,  in 
view  of  the  picture.  But  they  were  quick  thinkers, 
too,  we  decided.  Right  then  and  there  they  took  her 
prisoner,  surrounding  her. 

She  made  a  desperate  resistance,  even  crying  out, 
as  we  could  plainly  see.  But  Tish  was  irritated.  She 
said  she  could  not  see  how  the  story  would  hold  now. 
Either  the  girl  should  have  captured  them,  they  being 
out  of  ammunition,  or  the  whole  thing  should  have 
been  done  again,  according  to  the  original  plan.  How 
ever,  as  she  said,  it  was  not  our  affair.  Our  business 
was  to  teach  them  a  lesson  not  to  impose  on  unsus 
pecting  tourists,  for  although  not  fond  of  Mrs.  Oster- 
maier,  we  had  been  members  of  Mr.  Ostermaier's 
church,  and  liked  him,  although  his  sermons  were 
shorter  than  Tish  entirely  approved  of. 

We  withdrew  again  to  seclusion  until  they  had 
passed,  and  Tish  gave  them  ten  minutes  to  get  well 
ahead.  Then  we  rode  out. 

Tish's  face  was  stern  as  she  led  off.  The  shriek  of 
Mrs.  Ostermaier  was  still,  as  she  said  in  a  low  tone, 
ringing  in  her  ears.  But  before  we  had  gone  very  far, 
Tish  stopped  and  got  off  her  horse.  "We've  got  to 
pad  the  horses'  feet,"  she  said.  "How  can  we  creep 
up  on  them  when  on  every  stony  place  we  sound  like 
an  artillery  engagement?" 

331 


TISH  

Here  was  a  difficulty  we  had  not  anticipated.  But 
Tish  overcame  it  with  her  customary  resource,  by 
taking  the  blanket  from  under  her  saddle  and  cutting 
it  into  pieces  with  her  scissors,  which  always  accom 
pany  her.  We  then  cut  the  leather  straps  from  our 
saddles  at  her  direction,  and  each  of  us  went  to  work. 
Aggie,  however,  protested. 

"  I  never  expected,"  she  said  querulously,  "to  be  sit 
ting  on  the  Rocky  Mountains  under  a  horse,  tying  a 
piece  of  bed  quilt  on  his  feet.  I  would  n't  mind,"  she 
added,  "if  the  creature  liked  me.  But  the  way  he 
feels  toward  me  he 's  likely  to  haul  off  and  murder  me 
at  any  moment." 

However,  it  was  done  at  last,  and  it  made  a  great 
change.  We  moved  along  silently,  and  all  went  well 
except  that,  having  neglected  to  draw  the  cinch  tight, 
and  the  horse's  back  being  slippery  without  the  pad 
ding,  my  saddle  turned  unexpectedly,  throwing  me 
off  into  the  trail.  I  bruised  my  arm  badly,  but  Tish 
only  gave  me  a  glance  of  scorn  and  went  on. 

Being  above  carelessness  herself,  she  very  justly 
resents  it  in  others. 

We  had  expected,  with  reason,  that  the  so-called 
highwaymen,  having  retreated  to  a  certain  distance, 
would  there  pause  and  very  possibly  lunch  before  re 
turning.  It  was,  therefore,  a  matter  of  surprise  to 
find  that  they  had  kept  on. 

Moreover,  they  seemed  to  have  advanced  rapidly, 
and  Tish,  who  had  read  a  book  on  signs  of  the  trail, 
examined  the  hoofprints  of  their  horses  in  a  soft 

332 


—  TISH  

place  beside  a  stream,  and  reported  that  they  had 
been  going  at  a  lope. 

"Now,  remember,"  she  said  as  she  prepared  to 
mount  again,  "to  all  intents  and  purposes  these  are 
real  bandits  and  to  be  treated  accordingly.  Our 
motto  is  '  No  quarter.'  I  shall  be  harsh,  and  I  expect 
no  protest  from  either  of  you.  They  deserve  every 
thing  they  get." 

But  when,  after  another  mile  or  two,  we  came  to  a 
side  trail,  leading,  by  Tish's  map,  not  to  Many  Gla 
ciers,  but  up  a,  ravine  to  another  pass,  and  Tish  saw 
that  they  had  taken  that  direction,  we  were  puzzled. 

But  not  for  long. 

"I  understand  now,"  she  said.  " It  is  all  clear.  The 
photographer  was  riding  ahead  to  get  them  up  this  val 
ley  somewhere.  They've  probably  got  a  rendezvous 
all  ready,  with  another  camera  in  place.  I  must  say," 
she  observed,  "that  they  are  doing  it  thoroughly." 

We  rode  for  two  hours,  and  no  sign  of  them.  The 
stove  polish  had  come  off  the  handles  of  our  revolvers 
by  that  time,  and  Aggie,  having  rubbed  her  face  ever 
and  anon  to  remove  perspiration,  presented  under 
her  turban  a  villainous  and  ferocious  expression  quite 
at  variance  with  her  customary  mildness. 

I  urged  her  to  stop  and  wash,  but  Tish,  after  a 
glance,  said  to  keep  on. 

"Your  looking  like  that's  a  distinct  advantage, 
Aggie,"  she  said.  "Like  as  not  they'll  throw  up  their 
hands  the  minute  they  see  you.  I  know  I  should. 
You'd  better  ride  first  when  we  get  near." 

333 


TISH  

"Like  as  not  they'll  put  a  hole  in  me,"  Aggie  ob 
jected.  "And  as  to  riding  first,  I  will  not.  This  is 
your  doing,  Tish  Carberry,  and  as  for  their  having 
blank  cartridges  —  how  do  we  know  some  one  has  n't 
made  a  mistake  and  got  a  real  one?" 

Tish  reflected  on  that.  "It's  a  possibility,"  she 
agreed.  "If  we  find  that  they're  going  to  spend  the 
night  out,  it  might  be  better  to  wait  until  they've 
taken  off  all  the  hardware  they're  hung  with." 

But  we  did  not  come  up  with  them.  We  kept  on 
finding  traces  of  the  party  in  marshy  spots,  and  once 
Tish  hopped  off  her  horse  and  picked  up  a  small  hand 
kerchief  with  a  colored  border  and  held  it  up  to  us. 

"It's  hers,"  she  said.  "Anybody  would  know  she 
is  the  sort  to  use  colored  borders.  They're  ahead 
somewhere." 

But  it  seemed  strange  that  they  would  go  so  far, 
and  I  said  so. 

"We're  far  enough  off  the  main  trail,  Tish,"  I  said. 
"And  it's  getting  wilder  every  minute.  There's 
nothing  I  can  see  to  prevent  a  mountain  lion  drop 
ping  on  us  most  any  time." 

"Not  if  it  gets  a  good  look  at  Aggie!"  was  Tish's 
grim  response. 

It  began  to  grow  dark  in  the  valley,  and  things 
seemed  to  move  on  either  side  of  the  trail.  Aggie 
called  out  once  that  we  had  just  passed  a  grizzly 
bear,  but  Tish  never  faltered.  The  region  grew  more 
and  more  wild.  The  trail  was  broken  with  mudholes 
and  crossed  by  fallen  logs.  With  a  superb  disdain 

334 


TISH  

Tish  rode  across  all  obstacles,  not  even  glancing  at 
them.  But  Aggie  and  I  got  off  at  the  worst  places 
and  led  our  horses.  At  one  mudhole  I  was  unfortu 
nate  enough  to  stumble.  A  horse  with  a  particle  of 
affection  for  a  woman  who  had  ridden  it  and  cared 
for  it  for  several  days  would  have  paused. 

Not  so  my  animal.  With  a  heartlessness  at  which 
I  still  shudder  the  creature  used  me  as  a  bridge,  and 
stepped  across,  dryfoot,  on  my  back.  Owing  to  his 
padded  feet  and  to  the  depth  of  the  mud  —  some 
eight  feet,  I  believe  —  I  was  uninjured.  But  it  re 
quired  ten  minutes  of  hard  labor  on  the  part  of  both 
Tish  and  Aggie  to  release  me  from  the  mud,  from 
which  I  was  finally  raised  with  a  low,  hissing  sound. 

"Park!"  said  Aggie  as  she  scraped  my  obliterated 
features  with  a  small  branch.  "Park,  indeed!  It's 
a  howling  wilderness.  I'm  fond  of  my  native  land," 
she  went  on,  digging  out  my  nostrils,  so  I  could 
breathe,  "but  I  don't  calculate  to  eat  it.  As  for  that 
unfeeling  beast  of  yours,  Lizzie,  I've  never  known  a 
horse  to  show  such  selfishness.  Never." 

Well,  we  went  on  at  last,  but  I  was  not  so  enthu 
siastic  about  teaching  people  lessons  as  I  had  been. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  we  might  have  kept  on  along  the 
trail  and  had  a  mighty  good  time,  getting  more  and 
more  nimble  and  stopping  now  and  then  to  bake  a 
pie  and  have  a  decent  meal,  and  putting  up  our  hair 
in  crimps  at  night,  without  worrying  about  other 
folks'  affairs. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  when  so  far  as 
335 


TISH  

I  could  see  Tish  was  lost,  and  not  even  her  gathering 
a  bunch  of  wild  flowers  while  the  horses  rested  could 
fool  me,  I  voiced  my  complaint. 

"Let  me  look  at  the  map,  Tish,"  I  suggested.  " 1 'm 
pretty  good  at  maps.  You  know  how  I  am  at  cha 
rades  and  acrostics.  At  the  church  supper  — " 

"Nonsense,  Lizzie,"  she  returned.  "You  could 
n't  make  head  or  tail  of  this  map.  It's  my  belief 
that  the  man  who  made  it  had  never  been  here. 
Either  that  or  there  has  been  an  earthquake  since. 
But,"  she  went  on,  more  cheerfully,  "if  we  are  lost,  so 
are  the  others." 

"If  we  even  had  Bill  along!" 

"Bill!"  Tish  said  scornfully.  "It's  my  belief  Bill 
is  in  the  whole  business,  and  that  if  we  had  n't  got 
rid  of  him  we'd  have  been  the  next  advertising  dodge. 
As  far  as  that  goes,"  she  said  thoughtfully,  "it  would 
n't  surprise  me  a  particle  to  find  that  we've  been 
taken,  without  our  knowing  it,  most  any  time.  Your 
horse  just  now,  walking  across  that  bridge  of  size,  for 
one  thing." 

Tish  seldom  makes  a  pun,  which  she  herself  has 
said  is  the  lowest  form  of  humor.  The  dig  at  my 
figure  was  unkind,  also,  and  unworthy  of  her.  I 
turned  and  left  her. 

At  last,  well  on  in  the  evening,  I  saw  Tish  draw 
up  her  horse  and  point  ahead. 

"The  miscreants!"  she  said. 

True  enough,  up  a  narrow  side  canon  we  could  see 
a  camp-fire.  It  was  a  small  one,  and  only  noticeable 

336 


TISH  

from  one  point.  But  Tish's  keen  eye  had  seen  it.  She 
sat  on  her  horse  and  gazed  toward  it. 

"What  a  shameful  thing  it  is,"  she  said,  "to 
prostitute  the  beauties  of  this  magnificent  region  to 
such  a  purpose.  To  make  of  these  beetling  crags  a 
joke!  To  invade  these  vast  gorges  with  the  spirit  of 
commercialism  and  to  bring  a  pack  of  movie  actors 
to  desecrate  the  virgin  silence  with  ribald  jests  and 
laughter!  Lizzie,  I  wish  you  would  n't  wheeze!" 

"You  would  wheeze,  too,  Tish  Carberry,"  I  re 
torted,  justly  indignant,  "if  a  horse  had  just  pressed 
your  spinal  column  into  your  breast  bone.  Good 
ness  knows,"  I  said,  "where  my  lungs  are.  I've 
missed  them  ever  since  my  fall." 

However,  she  was  engrossed  with  larger  matters, 
and  ignored  my  petulance.  She  is  a  large-natured 
woman  and  above  pettiness. 

We  made  our  way  slowly  up  the  canon.  The  movie 
outfit  was  securely  camped  under  an  overhanging 
rock,  as  we  could  now  see.  At  one  point  their  posi 
tion  commanded  the  trail,  which  was  hardly  more 
than  a  track  through  the  wilderness,  and  before  we 
reached  this  point  we  dismounted  and  Tish  surveyed 
the  camp  through  her  glasses. 

"We'd  better  wait  until  dark,"  Tish  said.  "Owing 
to  the  padding  they  have  not  heard  us,  but  it  looks 
to  me  as  if  one  of  them  is  on  a  rock,  watching." 

It  seemed  rather  strange  to  me  that  they  were 
keeping  a  lookout,  but  Tish  only  shrugged  her 
shoulders. 

337 


TISH 


"If  I  know  anything  of  that  red-headed  Oliver 
man,"  she  said,  "he  hates  to  let  a  camera  rest.  Like 
as  not  he's  got  it  set  up  among  the  trees  somewhere, 
taking  flashlights  of  wild  animals.  It's  rather  a  pity," 
she  said,  turning  and  surveying  Aggie  and  myself, 
"that  he  cannot  get  you  two.  If  you  happen  to  see 
anything  edible  lying  on  the  ground,  you'd  better 
not  pick  it  up.  It's  probably  attached  to  the  string 
that  sets  off  the  flash." 

We  led  our  horses  into  the  woods,  which  were  very 
thick  at  that  point,  and  tied  them.  My  beast,  how 
ever,  lay  down  and  rolled,  saddle  and  all,  thus  break 
ing  my  mirror  —  a  most  unlucky  omen  —  and  the 
bottle  of  olive  oil  which  we  had  brought  along  for 
mayonnaise  dressing.  Tish  is  fond  of  mayonnaise, 
and,  besides,  considers  olive  oil  most  strengthening. 
However,  it  was  gone,  and  although  Aggie  comforted 
me  by  suggesting  that  her  boiled  salad  dressing  is 
quite  tasty,  I  was  disconsolate. 

It  was  by  that  time  seven  o'clock  and  almost  dark. 
We  held  a  conference.  Tish  was  of  the  opinion  that 
we  should  first  lead  off  their  horses,  if  possible. 

"I  intend,"  she  said  severely,  "to  make  escape 
impossible.  If  they  fire,  when  taken  by  surprise, 
remember  that  they  have  only  blank  cartridges.  I 
must  say,"  she  added  with  a  confession  of  unusual 
weakness,  "that  I  am  glad  the  Indians  escaped  the 
other  way.  I  would  hardly  know  what  to  do  with 
Indians,  even  quite  tame  ones.  While  I  know  a  few 
letters  of  the  deaf-and-dumb  language,  which  I  be- 

338 


TISH  

lieve  all  tribes  use  in  common,  I  fear  that  in  a  mo 
ment  of  excitement  I  would  forget  what  I  know." 

The  next  step,  she  asserted,  was  to  secure  their 
weapons. 

"After  all,"  she  said,  "the  darkness  is  in  our 
favor.  I  intend  to  fire  once,  to  show  them  that  we 
are  armed  and  dangerous.  And  if  you  two  will  point 
the  guns  Bill  made,  they  cannot  possibly  tell  that 
they  are  not  real." 

"But  we  will  know  it,"  Aggie  quavered.  Now  that 
the  quarry  was  in  sight  she  was  more  and  more  nerv 
ous,  sneezing  at  short  intervals  in  spite  of  her  men 
thol  inhaler.  "I  am  sorry,  Tish,  but  I  cannot  feel 
the  same  about  that  wooden  revolver  as  I  would 
about  a  real  one.  And  even  when  I  try  to  forget  that 
it  is  only  wood  the  carving  reminds  me." 

But  Tish  silenced  her  with  a  glance.  She  had 
strangely  altered  in  the  last  few  minutes.  All  traces 
of  fatigue  had  gone,  and  when  she  struck  a  match 
and  consulted  her  watch  I  saw  in  her  face  that  high 
resolve,  that  stern  and  matchless  courage,  which  I 
so  often  have  tried  to  emulate  and  failed. 

"  Seven  o'clock,"  she  announced.  "  We  will  dine  first. 
There  is  nothing  like  food  to  restore  failing  spirits." 

But  we  had  nothing  except  our  sandwiches,  and 
Tish  suggested  snaring  some  of  the  stupid  squirrels 
with  which  the  region  abounded. 

"Aggie  needs  broth,"  she  said  decidedly.  "We 
have  sandwiches,  but  Aggie  is  frail  and  must  be 
looked  to." 


TISH 


Aggie  was  pathetically  grateful,  although  sorry  for 
the  squirrels,  which  were  pretty  and  quite  tame. 
But  Tish  was  firm  in  her  kindly  intent,  and  pro 
ceeded  at  once  to  set  a  rabbit  snare,  a  trick  she  had 
learned  in  the  Maine  woods.  Having  done  this,  and 
built  a  small  fire,  well  hidden,  we  sat  down  to  wait. 

In  a  short  time  we  heard  terrible  human  cries  pro 
ceeding  from  the  snare,  and,  hurrying  thither,  found 
in  it  a  young  mountain  lion.  It  looked  dangerous, 
and  was  biting  in  every  direction.  I  admit  that 
I  was  prepared  to  leave  in  haste,  but  not  so  Tish. 
She  fetched  her  umbrella,  without  which  she  never 
travels,  and  while  the  animal  set  its  jaws  in  it  —  a 
painful  necessity,  as  it  was  her  best  umbrella  —  Tish 
hit  it  on  the  head  —  not  the  umbrella,  but  the  lion  — 
with  a  large  stone. 

Tish's  satisfaction  was  unbounded.  She  stated 
that  the  flesh  of  the  mountain  lion  was  much  like 
veal,  and  so  indeed  it  proved.  We  made  a  nourish 
ing  soup  of  it,  with  potatoes  and  a  can  of  macedoine 
vegetables,  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  we  had 
dined  luxuriously,  adding  to  our  repast  what  re 
mained  of  the  sandwiches,  and  a  tinned  plum  pud 
ding  of  English  make,  very  nutritious  and  delicious. 

For  twenty  minutes  after  the  meal  we  all  stood. 
Tish  insists  on  this,  as  aiding  digestion.  Then  we 
prepared  for  the  night's  work. 

I  believe  that  our  conduct  requires  no  defense. 
But  it  may  be  well  again  to  explain  our  position. 
These  people,  whose  camp-fire  glowed  so  brazenly 

340 


TISH  

against  the  opposite  cliff,  had  for  purely  mercenary 
motives  committed  a  cruel  hoax.  They  had  posed  as 
bandits,  and  as  bandits  they  deserved  to  be  treated. 
They  had  held  up  our  own  clergyman,  of  a  nervous 
temperament,  on  a  mountain  pass,  and  had  taken 
from  him  a  part  of  his  stipend.  It  was  heartless.  It 
was  barbarous.  It  was  cruel. 

My  own  courage  came  back  with  the  hot  food, 
which  I  followed  by  a  charcoal  tablet.  And  the  differ 
ence  in  Aggie  was  marked.  Possibly  some  of  the 
courage  of  the  mountain  lion,  that  bravest  of  wild 
creatures,  had  communicated  itself  to  her  through 
the  homely  medicine  of  digestion. 

"I  can  hardly  wait  to  get  after  them,"  she  said. 

However,  it  was  still  too  early  for  them  to  have 
settled  for  the  night.  We  sat  down,  having  extin 
guished  our  fire,  and  I  was  just  dozing  off  when  Tish 
remembered  the  young  man  who  was  to  have  listened 
for  the  police  whistle. 

"I  absolutely  forgot  him,"  she  said  regretfully. 
"I  suppose  he  is  hanging  round  the  foot  of  Piegan 
Pass  yet.  I'm  sorry  to  have  him  miss  this.  I  shall 
tell  him,  when  I  see  him,  that  no  girl  worth  having 
would  be  sitting  over  there  at  supper  with  four  mov 
ing-picture  actors  without  a  chaperon.  The  whole 
proceeding  is  scandalous.  I  have  noticed,"  she 
added,  "that  it  is  the  girls  from  quiet  suburban 
towns  who  are  really  most  prone  to  defy  the  conven 
tions  when  the  chance  comes." 

We  dozed  for  a  short  time. 

341 


TISH  

Then  Tish  sat  up  suddenly.  "What's  that?"  she 
said. 

We  listened  and  distinctly  heard  the  tramp  of 
horses'  feet.  We  started  up,  but  Tish  was  quite  calm. 

"They've  turned  their  horses  out,"  she  said. 
"Fortune  is  with  us.  They  are  coming  this  way." 

But  3,t  first  it  did  not  seem  so  fortunate,  for  we 
heard  one  of  the  men  following  them,  stumbling 
along,  and,  I  regret  to  say,  using  profane  language. 
They  came  directly  toward  us,  and  Aggie  beside  me 
trembled.  But  Tish  was  equal  to  the  emergency. 

She  drew  us  behind  a  large  rock,  where,  spreading 
out  a  raincoat  to  protect  us  from  the  dampness,  we 
sat  down  and  waited. 

When  one  of  the  animals  loomed  up  close  to  the 
rock  Aggie  gave  a  low  cry,  but  Tish  covered  her 
mouth  fiercely  with  an  ungentle  hand. 

"Be  still!  "she  hissed. 

It  was  now  perfectly  dark,  and  the  man  with  the 
horses  was  not  far  off.  We  could  not  see  him,  but 
at  last  he  came  near  enough  so  that  we  could  see  the 
flare  of  a  match  when  he  lighted  a  cigarette.  I  put 
my  hand  on  Aggie,  and  she  was  shaking  with  nerv 
ousness. 

"I  am  sure  I  am  going  to  sneeze,  Lizzie,"  she 
gasped. 

And  sneeze  she  did.  She  muffled  it  considerably, 
however,  and  we  were  not  discovered.  But,  Tish,  I 
knew,  was  silently  raging. 

The  horses  came  nearer. 
342 


TISH  

One  of  them,  indeed,  came  quite  close,  and  took  a 
nip  at  the  toe  of  my  riding-boot.  I  kicked  at  it 
sharply,  however,  and  it  moved  away. 

The  man  had  gone  on.  We  watched  the  light  of 
his  cigarette,  and  thus,  as  he  now  and  then  turned 
his  head,  knew  where  he  was.  It  was  now  that  I  felt, 
rather  than  heard,  that  Tish  was  crawling  out  from 
the  shelter  of  the  rock.  At  the  same  time  we  heard, 
by  the  crunching  of  branches,  that  the  man  had  sat 
down  near  at  hand. 

Tish's  progress  was  slow  but  sure.  For  a  half-hour 
we  sat  there.  Then  she  returned,  still  crawling,  and 
on  putting  out  my  hand  I  discovered  that  she  had 
secured  the  lasso  from  her  saddle  and  had  brought 
it  back.  How  true  had  been  her  instinct  when  she 
practiced  its  use!  How  my  own  words,  that  it  was 
all  foolishness,  came  back  and  whispered  lessons  of 
humility  in  my  ear! 

At  this  moment  a  deep,  resonant  sound  came  from 
the  tree  where  the  movie  actor  sat.  At  the  same  mo 
ment  a  small  creature  dropped  into  my  lap  from 
somewhere  above,  and  ran  up  my  sleeve.  I  made 
frantic  although  necessarily  silent  efforts  to  dislodge 
it,  and  it  bit  me  severely. 

The  necessity  for  silence  taxed  all  my  strength, 
but  managing  finally  to  secure  it  by  the  tail,  I  for 
cibly  withdrew  it  and  flung  it  away.  Unluckily  it 
struck  Aggie  in  the  left  eye  and  inflicted  a  painful 
bruise. 

Tish  had  risen  to  her  feet  and  was  standing,  a  si- 
343 


—  TISH  

lent  and  menacing  figure,  while  this  event  tran 
spired.  The  movements  of  the  horses  as  they  grazed, 
the  soft  breeze  blowing  through  the  pines,  were  the 
only  sounds.  Now  she  took  a  step  forward. 

"He's  asleep!"  she  whispered.  "Aggie,  sit  still 
and  watch  the  horses.  Lizzie,  come  with  me." 

As  I  advanced  to  her  she  thrust  her  revolver  into 
my  hand. 

"When  I  give  the  word,"  she  said  in  a  whisper, 
"hold  it  against  his  neck.  But  keep  your  finger  off 
the  trigger.  It's  loaded." 

We  advanced  slowly,  halting  now  and  then  to  lis 
ten.  Although  brush  crackled  under  our  feet,  the 
grazing  horses  were  making  a  similar  disturbance, 
and  the  man  slept  on.  Soon  we  could  see  him  clearly, 
sitting  back  against  a  tree,  his  head  dropped  for 
ward  on  his  breast.  Tish  surveyed  the  scene  with 
her  keen  and  appraising  eye,  and  raised  the  lasso. 

The  first  result  was  not  good.  The  loaded  end 
struck  a  branch,  and,  being  deflected,  the  thing 
wrapped  itself  perhaps  a  dozen  times  round  my  neck. 
Tish,  being  unconscious  of  what  had  happened, 
drew  it  up  with  a  jerk,  and  I  stood  helpless  and  slowly 
strangling.  At  last,  however,  she  realized  the  diffi 
culty  and  released  me.  I  was  unable  to  breathe  com 
fortably  for  some  time,  and  my  tongue  felt  swollen 
for  several  hours. 

Through  all  of  this  the  movie  actor  had  slept 
soundly.  At  the  second  effort  Tish  succeeded  in 
lassoing  him  without  difficulty.  We  had  feared  a 

344 


TISH 


loud  outcry  before  we  could  get  to  him,  but  owing 
to  Tish's  swiftness  in  tightening  the  rope  he  was  able 
to  make,  at  first,  only  a  low,  gurgling  sound.  I  had 
advanced  to  him,  and  was  under  the  impression  that 
I  was  holding  the  revolver  to  his  neck.  On  discover 
ing,  however,  that  I  was  pressing  it  to  the  trunk  of  the 
tree,  to  which  he  was  now  secured  by  the  lariat,  I 
corrected  the  error  and  held  it  against  his  ear. 

He  was  now  wide  awake  and  struggling  violently. 
Then,  I  regret  to  say,  he  broke  out  into  such  lan 
guage  as  I  have  never  heard  before.  At  Tish's  re 
quest  I  suppress  his  oaths,  and  substitute  for  them 
harmless  expressions  in  common  use. 

"Good  gracious!"  he  said.  "What  in  the  world 
are  you  doing  anyhow?  Jimminy  crickets,  take  that 
thing  away  from  my  neck!  Great  Scott  and  land 
alive,  I  have  n't  done  anything !  My  word,  that  gun 
will  go  off  if  you  are  n't  careful!" 

I  am  aware  that  much  of  the  strength  of  what  he 
said  is  lost  in  this  free  translation.  But  it  is  impos 
sible  to  repeat  his  real  language. 

"Don't  move,"  Tish  said,  "and  don't  call  out.  A 
sound,  and  a  bullet  goes  crashing  through  your 
brain." 

"A  woman!"  he  said  in  most  unflattering  amaze 
ment.  "  Great  Jehoshaphat,  a  woman ! " 

This  again  is  only  a  translation  of  what  he  said. 

"Exactly,"  Tish  observed  calmly.  She  had  cut 
the  end  off  the  lasso  with  her  scissors,  and  was  now 
tying  his  feet  together  with  it.  "My  friend,  we  know 

345 


TISH  

the  whole  story,  and  I  am  ashamed,  ashamed,"  she 
said  oratorically,  "of  your  sex!  To  frighten  a  harm 
less  and  well-meaning  preacher  and  his  wife  for  the 
purpose  of  publicity  is  not  a  joke.  Such  hoaxes  are 
criminal.  If  you  must  have  publicity,  why  not  seek 
it  in  some  other  way?" 

"Crazy!"  he  groaned  to  himself.  "In  the  hands 
of  lunatics!  Oh,  my  goodness!"  Again  these  were 
not  exactly  his  words. 

Having  bound  him  tightly,  hand  and  foot,  and 
taken  a  revolver  from  his  pocket,  Tish  straightened 
herself. 

"Now  we'll  gag  him,  Lizzie,"  she  said.  "We  have 
other  things  to  do  to-night  than  to  stand  here  and 
converse."  Then  she  turned  to  the  man  and  told  him 
a  deliberate  lie.  I  am  sorry  to  record  this.  But  a 
tendency  to  avoid  the  straight  and  narrow  issues  of 
truth  when  facing  a  crisis  is  one  of  Tish's  weaknesses, 
the  only  flaw  in  an  otherwise  strong  and  perfect 
character. 

"We  are  going  to  leave  you  here,"  she  said.  "But 
one  of  our  number,  fully  armed,  will  be  near  by.  A 
sound  from  you,  or  any  endeavor  to  call  for  succor, 
will  end  sadly  for  you.  A  word  to  the  wise.  Now, 
Lizzie,  take  that  bandanna  off  his  neck  and  tie  it 
over  his  mouth." 

Tish  stood,  looking  down  at  him,  and  her  very 
silhouette  was  scornful. 

"Think,  my  friend,"  she  said,  "of  the  ignominy 
of  your  position!  Is  any  moving  picture  worth  it? 

346 


TISH 


Is  the  pleasure  of  seeing  yourself  on  the  screen  any 
reward  for  such  a  shameful  position  as  yours  now  is? 
No.  A  thousand  times  no." 

He  made  a  choking  sound  in  his  throat  and  writhed 
helplessly.  And  so  we  left  him,  a  hopeless  and  miser 
able  figure,  to  ponder  on  his  sins. 

"That's  one,"  said  Tish  briskly.  "There  are  only 
three  left.  Come,  Aggie,"  she  said  cheerfully  —  "to 
work!  We  have  made  a  good  beginning." 

It  is  with  modesty  that  I  approach  that  night's 
events,  remembering  always  that  Tish's  was  the 
brain  which  conceived  and  carried  out  the  affair.  We 
were  but  her  loyal  and  eager  assistants.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  I  thought,  and  still  think,  that  the  money 
should  have  been  divided  so  as  to  give  Tish  the  lion's 
share.  But  she,  dear,  magnanimous  soul,  refused 
even  to  hear  of  such  a  course,  and  insisted  that  we 
share  it  equally. 

Of  that,  however,  more  anon. 

We  next  proceeded  to  capture  their  horses  and  to 
tie  them  up.  We  regretted  the  necessity  for  this, 
since  the  unfortunate  animals  had  traveled  far  and 
were  doubtless  hungry.  It  went  to  my  heart  to  drag 
them  from  their  fragrant  pasture  and  to  tie  them 
to  trees.  But,  as  Tish  said,  "Necessity  knows  no 
law,"  not  even  kindness.  So  we  tied  them  up.  Not, 
however,  until  we  had  moved  them  far  from  the 
trail. 

Tish  stopped  then,  and  stared  across  the  canon  to 
the  enemy's  camp-fire. 

347 


TISH  

"No  quarter,  remember,"  she  said.  "And  bring 
your  weapons." 

We  grasped  our  wooden  revolvers  and,  with  Tish 
leading,  started  for  the  camp.  Unluckily  there  was 
a  stream  between  us,  and  it  was  necessary  to  ford  it. 
It  shows  Tish's  true  generalship  that,  instead  of  re 
moving  her  shoes  and  stockings,  as  Aggie  and  I  were 
about  to  do,  she  suggested  getting  our  horses  and 
riding  across.  This  we  did,  and  alighted  on  the  other 
side  dryshod. 

It  was,  on  consulting  my  watch,  nine  o'clock  and 
very  dark.  A  few  drops  of  rain  began  to  fall  also, 
and  the  distant  camp-fire  was  burning  low.  Tish 
gave  us  each  a  little  blackberry  cordial,  for  fear  of 
dampness,  and  took  some  herself.  The  mild  glow 
which  followed  was  very  comforting. 

It  was  Tish,  naturally,  who  went  forward  to  rec- 
onnoiter.  She  returned  in  an  hour,  to  report  that 
the  three  men  were  lying  round  the  fire,  two  asleep 
and  one  leaning  on  his  elbow  with  a  revolver  handy. 
She  did  not  see  Mr.  Oliver,  and  it  was  possible  that 
it  was  he  we  had  tied  to  the  tree.  The  girl,  she  said, 
was  sitting  on  a  log,  with  her  chin  propped  in  her 
hands. 

"She  looked  rather  low-spirited,"  Tish  said.  "I 
expect  she  liked  the  first  young  man  better  than  she 
thought  she  did.  I  intend  to  give  her  a  piece  of  my 
mind  as  soon  as  I  get  a  chance.  This  playing  hot 
and  cold  is  n't  maidenly,  to  say  the  least." 

We  now  moved  slowly  forward,  after  tying  our 

348 


TISH 


horses.  Toward  the  last,  following  Tish's  example,  we 
went  on  our  hands  and  knees,  and  I  was  thankful  then 
for  no  skirts.  It  is  wonderful  the  freedom  a  man  has. 
I  was  never  one  to  approve  of  Doctor  Mary  Walker, 
but  I  'm  not  so  sure  she  is  n't  a  wise  woman  and  the 
rest  of  us  fools.  I  have  n't  put  on  a  skirt  braid  since 
that  time  without  begrudging  it. 

Well,  as  I  have  stated,  we  advanced,  and  at  last 
we  were  in  full  sight  of  the  camp.  I  must  say  I'd 
have  thought  they'd  have  a  tent.  We  expected 
something  better,  I  suppose,  because  of  the  articles 
in  the  papers  about  movie  people  having  their  own 
limousines,  and  all  that.  But  there  they  were,  open 
to  the  wrath  of  the  heavens,  and  deserving  it,  if  I 
do  say  so. 

The  girl  was  still  sitting,  as  Tish  had  described  her. 
Only  now  she  was  crying.  My  heart  was  downright 
sore  for  her.  It  is  no  comfort,  having  made  a  wrong 
choice,  to  know  that  it  is  one's  own  fault. 

Having  now  reached  the  zone  of  firelight  Tish  gave 
the  signal,  and  we  rose  and  pointed  our  revolvers  at 
them.  Then  Tish  stepped  forward  and  said :  — 

"Hands  up!" 

I  shall  never  forget  the  expression  on  the  man's 
face. 

He  shouted  something,  but  he  threw  up  his  hands 
also,  with  his  eyes  popping  out  of  his  head.  The 
others  scrambled  to  their  feet,  but  he  warned  them. 

"Careful,  boys!"  he  yelled.  "They've  got  the 
drop  on  us." 

349 


TISH  

Just  then  his  eyes  fell  on  Aggie,  and  he  screeched :  — 

"Two  women  and  a  Turk,  by ."   The  blank 

is  mine.. 

"Lizzie,"  said  Tish  sternly,  as  all  of  them,  includ 
ing  the  girl,  held  their  hands  up,  "just  give  me  your 
weapon  and  go  over  them." 

"Go  over  them?"  I  said,  not  understanding. 

"Search  them,"  said  Tish.  "Take  everything  out 
of  their  pockets.  And  don't  move,"  she  ordered  them 
sternly.  "One  motion,  and  I  fire.  Go  on,  Lizzie." 

Now  I  have  never  searched  a  man's  pockets,  and 
the  idea  was  repugnant  to  me.  I  am  a  woman  of 
delicate  instincts.  But  Tish's  face  was  stern.  I  did 
as  commanded,  therefore,  the  total  result  being :  — 

Four  revolvers. 

Two  large  knives. 

One  small  knife. 

One  bunch  of  keys. 

One  plug  of  chewing-tobacco. 

Four  cartridge  belts. 

Two  old  pipes. 

Mr.  Ostermaier's  cigar-case,  which  I  recognized 
at  once,  being  the  one  we  had  presented  to  him. 

Mrs.  Ostermaier's  wedding-ring  and  gold  bracelet, 
which  her  sister  gave  her  on  her  last  birthday. 

A  diamond  solitaire,  unknown,  as  Mrs.  Oster- 
maier  never  owned  one,  preferring  instead  earrings 
as  more  showy. 

And  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  which  I  kept 
but  did  not  count. 

350 


TISH  

There  were  other  small  articles,  of  no  value. 

"Is  that  all  the  loot  you  secured  during  the  in 
famous  scene  on  Piegan  Pass?"  Tish  demanded. 
"You  need  not  hide  anything  from  us.  We  know  the 
facts,  and  the  whole  story  will  soon  be  public." 

"That 's  all,  lady,"  whined  one  of  the  men.  "Except 
a  few  boxes  of  lunch,  and  that 's  gone.  Lady,  lemme 
take  my  hands  down  .I've  got  a  stiff  shoulder ,  and  I — " 

"Keep  them  up,"  Tish  snapped.  "Aggie,  see  that 
they  keep  them  up." 

Until  that  time  we  had  been  too  occupied  to  ob 
serve  the  girl,  who  merely  stood  and  watched  in  a 
disdainful  sort  of  way.  But  now  Tish  turned  and 
eyed  her  sternly. 

"Search  her,  Lizzie,"  she  commanded. 

"Search  me!"  the  girl  exclaimed  indignantly. 
"Certainly  not!" 

"Lizzie/'  said  Tish  in  her  sternest  manner,  "go 
over  that  girl.  Look  in  her  riding-boots.  I  have  n't 
come  across  Mrs.  Ostermaier's  earrings  yet." 

At  that  the  girl  changed  color  and  backed  off. 

"It's  an  outrage,"  she  said.  "Surely  I  have  suf 
fered  enough." 

"Not  as  much,"  Tish  observed,  "as  you  are  going 
to  suffer.  Go  over  her,  Lizzie." 

While  I  searched  her,  Tish  was  lecturing  her. 

"You  come  from  a  good  home,  I  understand,"  she 
said,  "and  you  ought  to  know  better.  Not  content 
with  breaking  an  honest  heart,  you  join  a  moving- 
picture  outfit  and  frighten  a  prominent  divine  — 

351 


TISH  

for  Mr.  Ostermaier  is  well  known  —  into  what  may 
be  an  illness.  You  cannot  deny,"  she  accused  her, 
"that  it  was  you  who  coaxed  them  to  the  pass.  At 
least  you  need  n't.  We  heard  you." 

"How  was  I  to  know  — "  the  girl  began  sullenly. 

But  at  that  moment  I  found  Mrs.  Ostermaier 's 
chamois  bag  thrust  into  her  riding-boot,  and  she  sud 
denly  went  pale. 

Tish  held  it  up  before  her  accusingly.  "I  dare  say 
you  will  not  deny  this,"  she  exclaimed,  and  took  Mrs. 
Ostermaier's  earrings  out  of  it. 

The  men  muttered,  but  Aggie  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.  "Silence!"  she  said,  and  pointed  the  re 
volver  at  each  in  turn. 

The  girl  started  to  speak.  Then  she  shrugged  her 
shoulders.  "I  could  explain,"  she  said,  "but  I  won't. 
If  you  think  I  stole  those  hideous  earrings  you're 
welcome  to." 

"Of  course  not,"  said  Tish  sarcastically.  "No 
doubt  she  gave  them  to  you  —  although  I  never 
knew  her  to  give  anything  away  before." 

The  girl  stood  still,  thinking.  Suddenly  she  said: 
"There's  another  one,  you  know.  Another  man." 

"We  have  him.  He  will  give  no  further  trouble," 
Tish  observed  grimly.  "I  think  we  have  you  all, 
except  your  Mr.  Oliver." 

"He  is  not  my  Mr.  Oliver,"  said  the  girl.  "I 
never  want  to  see  him  again.  I  —  I  hate  him." 

"You  have  n't  got  much  mind  or  you  could  n't 
change  it  so  quickly." 


TISH 

She  looked  sulky  again,  and  said  she'd  thank  us 
for  the  ring,  which  was  hers  and  she  could  prove  it. 

But  Tish  sternly  refused.  "It's  my  private  opin 
ion,"  she  observed,  "that  it  is  Mrs.  Ostermaier's,  and 
she  has  not  worn  it  openly  because  of  the  congrega 
tion  talking  quite  considerably  about  her  earrings, 
and  not  caring  for  jewelry  on  the  minister's  wife. 
That's  what  I  think." 

Shortly  after  that  we  heard  a  horse  loping  along 
the  road.  It  came  nearer,  and  then  left  the  trail  and 
came  toward  the  fire.  Tish  picked  up  one  of  the  extra 
revolvers  and  pointed  it.  It  was  Mr.  Oliver! 

"Throw  up  your  hands!"  Tish  called.  And  he 
did  it.  He  turned  a  sort  of  blue  color,  too,  when  he 
saw  us,  and  all  the  men  with  their  hands  up.  But  he 
looked  relieved  when  he  saw  the  girl. 

"Thank  Heaven!"  he  said.  "The  way  I've  been 
riding  this  country  — " 

"You  rode  hard  enough  away  from  the  pass,"  she 
replied  coldly. 

We  took  a  revolver  away  from  him  and  lined  him 
up  with  the  others.  All  the  time  he  was  paying  little 
attention  to  us  and  none  at  all  to  the  other  men.  But 
he  was  pleading  with  the  girl. 

"  Honestly,"  he  said,  "I  thought  I  could  do  better 
for  everybody  by  doing  what  I  did.  How  did  I 
know,"  he  pleaded,  "that  you  were  going  to  do  such 
a  crazy  thing  as  this?" 

But  she  only  stared  at  him  as  if  she  hated  the  very 
ground  he  stood  on. 

353 


TISH 


"It's  a  pity,"  Tish  observed,  "that  you  haven't 
got  your  camera  along.  This  would  make  a  very  nice 
picture.  But  I  dare  say  you  could  hardly  turn  the 
crank  with  your  hands  in  the  air." 

We  searched  him  carefully,  but  he  had  only  a  gold 
watch  and  some  money.  On  the  chance,  however, 
that  the  watch  was  Mr.  Ostermaier's,  although  un 
likely,  we  took  it. 

I  must  say  he  was  very  disagreeable,  referring  to 
us  as  highwaymen  and  using  uncomplimentary  lan 
guage.  But,  as  Tish  observed,  we  might  as  well  be 
thorough  while  we  were  about  it. 

For  the  nonce  we  had  forgotten  the  other  man. 
But  now  I  noticed  that  the  pseudo-bandits  wore  a 
watchful  and  not  unhopeful  air.  And  suddenly  one 
of  them  whistled  —  a  thin,  shrill  note  that  had,  as 
Tish  later  remarked,  great  penetrative  power  with 
out  being  noisy. 

"That's  enough  of  that,"  she  said.  "Aggie,  take 
another  of  these  guns  and  point  them  both  at  these 
gentlemen.  If  they  whistle  again,  shoot.  As  to  the 
other  man,  he  will  not  reply,  nor  will  he  come  to 
your  assistance.  He  is  gagged  and  tied,  and  into  the 
bargain  may  become  at  any  time  the  victim  of  wild 
beasts." 

The  moment  she  had  said  it,  Tish  realized  that  it 
was  but  too  true,  and  she  grew  thoughtful.  Aggie, 
too,  was  far  from  comfortable.  She  said  later  that 
she  was  uncertain  what  to  do.  Tish  had  said  to  fire 
if  they  whistled  again.  The  question  in  her  mind 

354 


TISH 


was,  had  it  been  said  purely  for  effect  or  did  Tish 
mean  it?  After  all,  the  men  were  not  real  bandits, 
she  reflected,  although  guilty  of  theft,  even  if  only 
for  advertising  purposes.  She  was  greatly  disturbed, 
and  as  agitation  always  causes  a  return  of  her  hay 
fever,  she  began  to  sneeze  violently. 

Until  then  the  men  ha'd  been  quiet,  if  furious.  But 
now  they  fell  into  abject  terror,  imploring  Tish, 
whom  they  easily  recognized  as  the  leader,  to  take 
the  revolvers  from  her. 

But  Tish  only  said:  "No  fatalities,  Aggie,  please. 
Point  at  an  arm  or  a  leg  until  the  spasm  subsides." 

Her  tone  was  quite  gentle. 

Heretofore  this  has  been  a  plain  narrative,  dull, 
I  fear,  in  many  places.  But  I  come  now  to  a  not  un 
exciting  incident  —  which  for  a  time  placed  Tish 
and  myself  in  an  unpleasant  position. 

I  refer  to  the  escape  of  the  man  we  had  tied. 

We  held  a  brief  discussion  as  to  what  to  do  with 
our  prisoners  until  morning,  a  discussion  which  Tish 
solved  with  her  usual  celerity  by  cutting  from  the 
saddles  which  lay  round  the  fire  a  number  of  those 
leather  thongs  with  which  such  saddles  are  adorned 
and  which  are  used  in  case  of  necessity  to  strap  vari 
ous  articles  to  the  aforesaid  saddles. 

With  these  thongs  we  tied  them,  not  uncomfor 
tably,  but  firmly,  their  hands  behind  them  and  their 
feet  fastened  together.  Then,  as  the  night  grew  cold, 
Tish  suggested  that  we  shove  them  near  the  fire, 
which  we  did. 

355 


TISH  

The  young  lady,  however,  offered  a  more  difficult 
problem.  We  compromised  by  giving  her  her  free 
dom,  but  arranging  for  one  of  our  number  to  keep 
her  covered  with  a  revolver. 

"You  need  n't  be  so  thoughtful,"  she  said  angrily, 
and  with  a  total  lack  of  appreciation  of  Tish's  con 
siderate  attitude.  "  I  'd  rather  be  tied,  especially  if  the 
Moslem  with  the  hay  fever  is  going  to  hold  the  gun." 

It  was  at  that  moment  that  we  heard  a  whistle 
from  across  the  stream,  and  each  of  the  prostrate 
men  raised  his  head  eagerly.  Before  Tish  could  in 
terfere  one  of  them  had  whistled  three  times  sharply, 
probably  a  danger  signal. 

Without  a  word  Tish  turned  and  ran  toward  the 
stream,  calling  to  me  to  follow  her. 

"Tish!"  I  heard  Aggie's  agonized  tone.  "Lizzie! 
Come  back.  Don't  leave  me  here  alone.  I  — " 

Here  she  evidently  clutched  the  revolver  involun 
tarily,  for  there  was  a  sharp  report,  and  a  bullet 
struck  a  tree  near  us. 

Tish  paused  and  turned.  "Point  that  thing  up 
into  the  air,  Aggie,"  she  called  back.  "And  stay 
there.  I  hold  you  responsible." 

I  heard  Aggie  give  a  low  moan,  but  she  said  noth- 
thing,  and  we  kept  on. 

The  moon  had  now  come  up,  flooding  the  valley 
with  silver  radiance.  We  found  our  horses  at  once, 
and  Tish  leaped  into  the  saddle.  Being  heavier  and 
also  out  of  breath  from  having  stumbled  over  a  log, 
I  was  somewhat  slower. 

356 


TISH  

Tish  was  therefore  in  advance  of  me  when  we 
started,  and  it  was  she  who  caught  sight  of  him  first. 

"He's  got  a  horse,  Lizzie,"  she  called  back  to  me. 
"We  can  get  him,  I  think.  Remember,  he  is  un 
armed." 

Fortunately  he  had  made  for  the  trail,  which  was 
here  wider  than  ordinary  and  gleamed  white  in  the 
moonlight.  We  had,  however,  lost  some  time  in  ford 
ing  the  stream,  and  we  had  but  the  one  glimpse  of 
him  as  the  trail  curved. 

Tish  lashed  her  horse  to  a  lope,  and  mine  followed 
without  urging.  I  had,  unfortunately,  lost  a  stirrup 
early  in  the  chase,  and  was  compelled,  being  unable 
to  recover  it,  to  drop  the  lines  and  clutch  the  saddle. 

Twice  Tish  fired  into  the  air.  She  explained  after 
ward  that  she  did  this  for  the  moral  effect  on  the 
fugitive,  but  as  each  time  it  caused  my  horse  to  jump 
and  almost  unseat  me,  at  last  I  begged  her  to  desist. 

We  struck  at  last  into  a  straight  piece  of  trail,  end 
ing  in  a  wall  of  granite,  and  up  this  the  trail  climbed 
in  a  switchback.  Tish  turned  to  me. 

"We  have  him  now,"  she  said.  "When  he  starts 
up  there  he  is  as  much  gone  as  a  fly  on  the  wall.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,"  she  said  as  calmly  as  though  we 
had  been  taking  an  afternoon  stroll,  "his  taking 
this  trail  shows  that  he  is  a  novice  and  no  real  high 
wayman.  Otherwise  he  would  have  turned  off  into 
the  woods." 

At  that  moment  the  fugitive's  horse  emerged  into 
the  moonlight  and  Tish  smiled  grimly. 

357 


TISH 


"I  see  why  now,"  she  exclaimed.  "The  idiot  has 
happened  on  Mona  Lisa,  who  must  have  returned 
and  followed  us.  And  no  pack-horse  can  be  made  to 
leave  the  trail  unless  by  means  of  a  hornet.  Look, 
he's  trying  to  pull  her  off  and  she  won't  go." 

It  was  true,  as  we  now  perceived.  He  saw  his 
danger,  but  too  late.  Mona  Lisa,  probably  still  dis 
agreeable  after  her  experience  with  the  hornets,  held 
straight  for  the  cliff. 

The  moon  shone  full  on  it,  and  when  he  was  only 
thirty  feet  up  its  face  Tish  fired  again,  and  the  fugi 
tive  stopped. 

"Come  down,"  said  Tish  quietly. 

He  said  a  great  many  things  which,  like  his  earlier 
language,  I  do  not  care  to  repeat.  But  after  a  second 
shot  he  began  to  descend  slowly. 

Tish,  however,  approached  him  warily,  having 
given  her  revolver  to  me. 

"He  might  try  to  get  it  from  me,  Lizzie,"  she  ob 
served.  "Keep  it  pointed  in  our  direction,  but  not 
at  us.  I'm  going  to  tie  him  again." 

This  she  proceeded  to  do,  tying  his  hands  behind 
him  and  fastening  his  belt  also  to  the  horn  of  the 
saddle,  but  leaving  his  feet  free.  All  this  was  done 
to  the  accompaniment  of  bitter  vituperation.  She 
pretended  to  ignore  this,  but  it  made  an  impression 
evidently,  for  at  last  she  replied. 

"You  have  no  one  to  blame  but  yourself,"  she 
said.  "You  deserve  your  present  humiliating  posi 
tion,  and  you  know  it.  I've  made  up  my  mind  to 

358 


TISH  

take  you  all  in  and  expose  your  cruel  scheme,  and 
I  intend  to  do  it.  I'm  nothing  if  I  am  not  thorough," 
she  finished. 

He  made  no  reply  to  this,  and,  in  fact,  he  made 
only  one  speech  on  the  way  back,  and  that,  I  am 
happy  to  say,  was  without  profanity. 

"It  is  n't  being  taken  in  that  I  mind  so  much," 
he  said  pathetically.  "It's  all  in  the  game,  and 
I  can  stand  up  as  well  under  trouble  as  any  one. 
It 's  being  led  in  by  a  crowd  of  women  that  makes  it 
painful." 

I  have  neglected  to  say  that  Tish  was  leading  Mona 
Lisa,  while  I  followed  with  the  revolver. 

It  was  not  far  from  dawn  when  we  reached  the 
camp  again.  Aggie  was  as  we  had  left  her,  but  in  the 
light  of  the  dying  fire  she  looked  older  and  much 
worn.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  some  weeks  before 
she  looked  like  her  old  self. 

The  girl  was  sitting  where  we  had  left  her,  and  sulk 
ier  than  ever.  She  had  turned  her  back  to  Mr.  Oli 
ver,  and  Aggie  said  afterward  that  the  way  they  had 
quarreled  had  been  something  terrible. 

Aggie  said  she  had  tried  to  make  conversation 
with  the  girl,  and  had,  indeed,  told  her  of  Mr.  Wig 
gins  and  her  own  blasted  life.  But  she  had  remained 
singularly  unresponsive. 

The  return  of  our  new  prisoner  was  greeted  by  the 
other  men  with  brutal  rage,  except  Mr.  Oliver,  who 
merely  glanced  at  him  and  then  went  back  to  his 
staring  at  the  fire.  It  appeared  that  they  had  been 

359 


TISH 


counting  on  him  to  get  assistance,  and  his  capture 
destroyed  their  last  hope.  Indeed,  their  language 
grew  so  unpleasant  that  at  last  Tish  hammered 
sharply  on  a  rock  with  the  handle  of  her  revolver. 

"Please  remember,"  she  said,  "that  you  are  in 
the  presence  of  ladies!" 

They  jeered  at  her,  but  she  handled  the  situation 
with  her  usual  generalship. 

"Lizzie,"  she  said  calmly,  "get  the  tin  basin  that  is 
hanging  to  my  saddle,  and  fill  it  with  the  water  from 
that  snowbank.  On  the  occasion  of  any  more  unseemly 
language,  pour  it  over  the  offender  without  mercy." 

It  became  necessary  to  do  it,  I  regret  to  state. 
They  had  not  yet  learned  that  Tish  always  carries 
out  her  threats.  It  was  the  one  who  we  felt  was  the 
leader  who  offended,  and  I  did  as  I  had  been  re 
quested  to.  But  Aggie,  ever  tender-hearted,  feared 
that  it  would  give  the  man  a  severe  cold,  and  got 
Tish's  permission  to  pour  a  little  blackberry  cordial 
down  his  throat. 

Far  from  this  kindness  having  a  salubrious  effect, 
it  had  the  contrary.  They  all  fell  to  bad  language 
again,  and,  realizing  that  they  wished  the  cordial, 
and  our  supply  being  limited,  we  were  compelled  to 
abandon  the  treatment. 

It  had  been  an  uncomfortable  night,  and  I  confess 
to  a  feeling  of  relief  when  "the  rift  of  dawn"  broke 
the  early  skies. 

We  were,  Tish  calculated,  some  forty  miles  from 
breakfast,  and  Aggie's  diet  for  some  days  had  been 

360 


TISH  

light  at  the  best,  even  the  mountain-lion  broth  hav 
ing  been  more  stimulating  than  staying.  We  there 
fore  investigated  the  camp,  and  found  behind  a  large 
stone  some  flour,  baking-powder,  and  bacon. 

With  this  equipment  and  a  frying-pan  or  two  we 
were  able  to  make  some  very  fair  pancakes  —  or 
flapjacks,  as  they  are  called  in  the  West. 

Tish  civilly  invited  the  girl  to  eat  with  us,  but  she 
refused  curtly,  although,  on  turning  once,  I  saw  her 
eyeing  us  with  famished  eyes.  I  think,  however, 
that  on  seeing  us  going  about  the  homely  task  of 
getting  breakfast,  she  realized  that  we  were  not  the 
desperate  creatures  she  had  fancied  during  the  night, 
but  three  gentlewomen  on  a  holiday  —  simple  tour 
ists,  indeed. 

"I  wish,"  she  said  at  last  almost  wistfully  —  "I 
wish  that  I  could  understand  it  all.  I  seem  to  be 
all  mixed  up.  You  don't  suppose  I  want  to  be  here, 
do  you?" 

But  Tish  was  not  in  a  mood  to  make  concessions. 
"As  for  what  you  want,"  she  said,  "how  are  we  to 
know  that?  You  are  here,  are  n't  you?  —  here  as  a 
result  of  your  own  cold-heartedness.  Had  you  re 
mained  true  to  the  very  estimable  young  man  you 
jilted  you  would  not  now  be  in  this  position." 

"Of  course  he  would  talk  about  it!"  said  the  girl 
darkly. 

"I  am  convinced,"  Tish  went  on,  dexterously  turn 
ing  a  pancake  by  a  swift  movement  of  the  pan,  "that 
sensational  movies  are  responsible  for  much  that 

361 


TISH  

is  wrong  with  the  country  to-day.  They  set  false 
standards.  Perfectly  pure-minded  people  see  them 
and  are  filled  with  thoughts  of  crime." 

Although  she  had  ignored  him  steadily,  the  girl 
turned  now  to  Mr.  Oliver. 

"They  don't  believe  anything  I  tell  them.  Why 
don't  you  explain?"  she  demanded. 

"Explain!"  he  said  in  a  furious  voice.  "Explain 
to  three  lunatics?  What's  the  use?" 
.   "You  got  me  into  this,  you  know." 

"I  did!  I  like  that!  What  in  the  name  of  Heaven 
induced  you  to  ride  off  the  way  you  did?" 

Tish  paused,  with  the  frying-pan  in  the  air.  "Si 
lence  ! "  she  commanded.  "You  are  both  only  reaping 
what  you  have  sowed.  As  far  as  quarreling  goes, 
you  can  keep  that  until  you  are  married,  if  you  in 
tend  to  be.  I  don't  know  but  I'd  advise  it.  It's  a 
pity  to  spoil  two  houses." 

But  the  girl  said  that  she  would  n't  marry  him  if 
he  was  the  last  man  on  earth,  and  he  fell  back  to 
sulking  again. 

As  Aggie  observed  later,  he  acted  as  if  he  had 
never  cared  for  her,  while  Mr.  Bell,  on  the  contrary, 
could  not  help  his  face  changing  when  he  so  much  as 
mentioned  her  name. 

We  made  some  tea  and  ate  a  hearty  breakfast,  while 
the  men  watched  us.  And  as  we  ate,  Tish  held  the 
moving-picture  business  up  to  contumely  and  scorn. 

"Lady,"  said  one  of  the  prostrate  men,  "aren't 
you  going  to  give  us  anything  to  eat?" 

362 


TISH 


"People,"  Tish  said,  ignoring  him,  "who  would 
ordinarily  cringe  at  the  sight  of  a  wounded  beetle  sit 
through  bloody  murders  and  go  home  with  the  ob 
session  of  crime." 

"I  hope  you  won't  take  it  amiss,"  said  the  man 
again,  "if  I  say  that,  seeing  it's  our  flour  and  bacon, 
you  either  ought  to  feed  us  or  take  it  away  and  eat 
it  where  we  can't  see  you." 

"I  take  it,"  said  Tish  to  the  girl,  pouring  in  more 
batter,  "that  you  yourself  would  never  have  thought 
of  highway  robbery  had  you  not  been  led  to  it  by  an 
overstimulated  imagination. 

"I  wish,"  said  the  girl  rudely,  "that  you  would  n't 
talk  so  much.  I've  got  a  headache." 

When  we  had  finished  Tish  indicated  the  frying- 
pan  and  the  batter.  "Perhaps,"  she  said,  "you 
would  like  to  bake  some  cakes  for  these  friends  of 
yours.  We  have  a  long  trip  ahead  of  us." 

But  the  girl  replied  heartlessly  that  she  hoped  they 
would  starve  to  death,  ignoring  their  pitiful  glances. 
In  the  end  it  was  our  own  tender-hearted  Aggie  who 
baked  pancakes  for  them  and,  loosening  their  hands 
while  I  stood  guard,  saw  that  they  had  not  only  food 
but  the  gentle  refreshment  of  fresh  tea.  Tish  it  was, 
however,  who,  not  to  be  outdone  in  magnanimity, 
permitted  them  to  go,  one  by  one,  to  the  stream  to 
wash.  Escape,  without  horses  or  weapons,  was  im 
possible,  and  they  realized  it. 

By  nine  o'clock  we  were  ready  to  return.  And 
here  a  difficulty  presented  itself.  There  were  six 

3G3 


TISH 


prisoners  and  only  three  of  us.  The  men,  fed  now, 
were  looking  less  subdued,  although  they  pretended 
to  obey  Tish's  commands  with  alacrity. 

Aggie  overheard  a  scrap  of  conversation,  too, 
which  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  had  not  given  up 
hope.  Had  Tish  not  set  her  heart  on  leading  them 
into  the  great  hotel  at  Many  Glaciers,  and  there  ex 
posing  them  to  the  taunts  of  angry  tourists,  it  would 
have  been  simpler  for  one  of  us  to  ride  for  assistance, 
leaving  the  others  there. 

In  this  emergency  Tish,  putting  her  hand  into  her 
pocket  for  her  scissors  to  trim  a  hangnail,  happened 
to  come  across  the  policeman's  whistle. 

"My  gracious!"  she  said.  "I  forgot  my  promise 
to  that  young  man!" 

She  immediately  put  it  to  her  lips  and  blew  three 
shrill  blasts.  To  our  surprise  they  were  answered 
by  a  halloo,  and  a  moment  later  the  young  gentle 
man  himself  appeared  on  the  trail.  He  was  no  longer 
afoot,  but  was  mounted  on  a  pinto  pony,  which  we 
knew  at  once  for  Bill's. 

He  sat  on  his  horse,  staring  as  if  he  could  not  be 
lieve  his  eyes.  Then  he  made  his  way  across  the 
stream  toward  us. 

"Good  Heavens!"  he  said.  "What  in  the  name 
of — "  Here  his  eyes  fell  on  the  girl,  and  he  stiffened. 

"  Jim! "  cried  the  girl,  and  looked  at  him  with  what 
Aggie  afterward  characterized  as  a  most  touching 
expression. 

But  he  ignored  her.  "Looks  as  though  you  folks 

364 


TISH  

have  been  pretty  busy,"  he  observed,  glancing  at 
our  scowling  captives.  "I'm  a  trifle  surprised.  You 
don't  mind  my  being  rather  breathless,  do  you?" 

"My  only  regret,"  Tish  said  loftily,  "is  that  we 
have  not  secured  the  Indians.  They  too  should  be 
taught  a  lesson.  I  am  sure  that  the  red  man  is  noble 
until  led  away  by  civilized  people  who  might  know 
better." 

It  was  at  this  point  that  Mr.  Bell's  eyes  fell  on  Mr. 
Oliver,  who  with  his  hands  tied  behind  him  was 
crouching  over  the  fire. 

"Well!"  he  said.  "So  you're  here  too!  But  of 
course  you  would  be."  This  he  said  bitterly. 

"For  the  love  of  Heaven,  Bell,"  Mr.  Oliver  said, 
"tell  those  mad  women  that  I'm  not  a  bandit." 

"We  know  that  already,"  Tish  observed. 

"And  untie  my  hands.  My  shoulders  are  about 
broken." 

But  Mr.  Bell  only  looked  at  him  coldly.  "I  can't 
interfere  with  these  ladies,"  he  said.  "  They  're  friends 
of  mine.  If  they  think  you  are  better  tied,  it's  their 
business.  They  did  it." 

"At  least,"  Mr.  Oliver  said  savagely,  "you  can 
tell  them  who  I  am,  can't  you?" 

"As  to  that,"  Mr.  Bell  returned,  "I  can  only  tell 
them  what  you  say  you  are.  You  must  remember 
that  I  know  nothing  about  you.  Helen  knows  much 
more  than  I  do." 

"Jim,"  cried  the  girl,  "surely  you  are  going  to  tell 
these  women  that  we  are  not  highway  robbers.  Tell 

365 


TISH  

them  the  truth.  Tell  them  I  am  not  a  highway 
robber.  Tell  them  that  these  men  are  not  my  accom 
plices,  that  I  never  saw  them  before." 

"You  must  remember,"  he  replied  in  an  icy  tone, 
"that  I  no  longer  know  your  friends.  It  is  some  days 
since  you  and  I  parted  company.  And  you  must  ad 
mit  that  one  of  them  is  a  friend  of  yours  —  as  well 
as  I  can  judge,  a  very  close  friend." 

She  was  almost  in  tears,  but  she  persisted.  "At 
least,"  she  said,  "you  can  tell  them  that  I  did  not 
rob  that  woman  on  the  pass.  They  are  going  to  lead 
us  in  to  Many  Glaciers,  and  —  Jim,  you  won't  let 
them,  will  you?  I'll  die  of  shame." 

But  he  was  totally  unmoved.  As  Aggie  said  after 
ward,  no  one  would  have  thought  that,  but  a  day  or 
two  before,  he  had  been  heartbroken  because  she  was 
in  love  with  someone  else. 

"As  to  that,"  he  said,  "it  is  questionable,  accord 
ing  to  Mrs.  Ostermaier,  that  nothing  was  taken  from 
you,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  attack  was  over  you 
basely  deserted  her  and  followed  the  bandits.  A  full 
description  of  you,  which  I  was  able  to  correct  in 
one  or  two  trifling  details,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
park  police." 

She  stared  at  him  with  fury  in  her  eyes.  "I  hope 
you  will  never  speak  to  me  again,"  she  cried. 

"You  said  that  the  last  time  I  saw  you,  Helen. 
If  you  will  think,  you  will  remember  that  you  ad 
dressed  me  first  just  now." 

She  stamped  her  foot. 

3G6 


TISH 


"Of  course,"  he  said  politely,  "you  can  see  my 
position.  You  maintain  and  possibly  believe  that 
these  —  er  —  acquaintances  of  yours  "  —  he  indi 
cated  the  men  —  "are  not  members  of  the  moving- 
picture  outfit.  Also  that  your  being  with  them  is  of 
an  accidental  nature.  But,  on  the  other  hand  — " 

She  put  her  fingers  in  her  ears  and  turned  her  back 
on  him. 

"On  the  other  hand,"  he  went  on  calmly,  "I  have 
the  word  of  these  three  respectable  ladies  that  they 
are  the  outfit,  or  part  of  it,  that  they  have  just  con 
cluded  a  cruel  hoax  on  unsuspecting  tourists,  and 
that  they  justly  deserve  to  be  led  in  as  captives  and 
exposed  to  the  full  ignominy  of  their  position." 

Here  she  faced  him  again,  and  this  time  she  was 
quite  pale.  "Ask  those  —  those  women  where  they 
found  my  engagement  ring,"  she  said.  "One  of  those 
wretches  took  it  from  me.  That  ought  to  be  proof 
enough  that  they  are  not  from  the  moving-picture 
outfit." 

Tish  at  once  produced  the  ring  and  held  it  out  to 
him.  But  he  merely  glanced  at  it  and  shook  his  head. 

"All  engagement  rings  look  alike,"  he  observed. 
"I  cannot  possibly  say,  Helen,  but  I  think  it  is  un 
likely  that  it  is  the  one  I  gave  you,  as  you  told  me, 
you  may  recall,  that  you  had  thrown  it  into  a  crack 
in  a  glacier.  It  may,  of  course,  be  one  you  have  re 
cently  acquired." 

He  glanced  at  Mr.  Oliver,  but  the  latter  only 
shrugged  his  shoulders. 

367 


TISH  

Well,  she  shed  a  few  tears,  but  he  was  adamant, 
and  helped  us  saddle  the  horses,  ignoring  her  utterly. 
It  was  our  opinion  that  he  no  longer  cared  for  her, 
and  that,  having  lost  him,  she  now  regretted  it.  I 
know  that  she  watched  him  steadily  when  he  was  not 
looking  her  way.  But  he  went  round  quite  happily, 
whistling  a  bit  of  tune,  and  not  at  all  like  the  surly 
individual  we  had  at  first  thought  him. 

The  ride  back  was  without  much  incident.  Our 
prisoners  rode  with  their  hands  tied  behind  them, 
except  the  young  lady. 

"We  might  as  well  leave  her  unfastened,"  the 
young  man  said  casually.  "While  I  dare  say  she 
would  make  her  escape  if  possible,  and  particularly 
if  there  was  any  chance  of  getting  filmed  while  do 
ing  it,  I  will  make  myself  personally  responsible." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  she  was  exceedingly  rude  to 
all  of  us,  and  during  our  stop  for  luncheon,  which 
was  again  bacon  and  pancakes,  she  made  a  dash  for 
her  horse.  The  young  man  saw  her,  however,  in  time, 
and  brought  her  back.  From  that  time  on  she  was 
more  civil,  but  I  saw  her  looking  at  him  now  and 
then,  and  her  eyes  were  positively  terrified. 

It  was  Aggie,  at  last,  who  put  in  a  plea  for  her 
with  him,  drawing  him  aside  to  do  so.  "I  am  sure," 
she  said,  "that  she  is  really  a  nice  girl,  and  has  merely 
been  led  astray  by  the  search  for  adventure.  Natur 
ally  my  friends,  especially  Miss  Tish,  have  small 
sympathy  with  such  a  state  of  mind.  But  you  are 
younger  —  and  remember,  you  loved  her  once." 

368 


TISH 


"Loved  her  once!"  he  replied.  "Dear  lady,  I'm 
so  crazy  about  her  at  this  minute  that  I  can  hardly 
hold  myself  in." 

"You  are  not  acting  much  like  it." 

"The  fact  is,"  he  replied,  "I'm  afraid  to  let  my 
self  go.  And  if  she's  learned  a  lesson,  I  have  too. 
I  Ve  been  her  doormat  long  enough.  I  tried  it  and  it 
did  n't  work.  She's  caring  more  for  me  now,  at  this 
minute,  than  she  has  in  eleven  months.  She  needs 
a  strong  hand,  and,  by  George!  I've  got  it  —  two 
of  them,  in  fact." 

We  reached  Many  Glaciers  late  that  afternoon, 
and  Tish  rode  right  up  to  the  hotel.  Our  arrival 
created  the  most  intense  excitement,  and  Tish,  al 
though  pleased,  was  rather  surprised.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  a  large  man  elbowed  his  way  through 
the  crowd  and  took  possession  of  the  prisoners  that 
we  understood. 

"I'll  take  them  now,"  he  said.  "Well,  George, 
how  are  you?" 

This  was  to  the  leader,  who  merely  muttered  in  reply. 

"I'd  like  to  leave  them  here  for  a  short  time,"  Tish 
stated.  "They  should  be  taught  a  severe  lesson  and 
nothing  stings  like  ridicule.  After  that  you  can  turn 
them  free,  but  I  think  they  ought  to  be  discharged." 

"Turn  them  free! "  he  said  in  a  tone  of  amazement. 
"Discharged!  My  dear  madam,  they  will  get  fif 
teen  years'  hard  labor,  I  hope.  And  that 's  too  good 
for  them." 

Then  suddenly  the  crowd  began  to  cheer.   It  was 

369 


TISH  

some  time  before  Tish  realized  that  they  were  cheer 
ing  us.  And  even  then,  I  shall  have  to  confess,  we  did 
not  understand  until  the  young  man  explained  to  us. 

"You  see,"  he  said,  "I  did  n't  like  to  say  anything 
sooner,  for  fear  of  making  you  nervous.  You  'd  done 
it  all  so  well  that  I  wanted  you  to  finish  it.  You've 
been  in  the  right  church  all  along,  but  the  wrong 
pew.  Those  fellows  are  n't  movie  actors,  except 
Oliver,  who  will  be  freed  now,  and  come  after  me 
with  a  gun,  as  like  as  not!  They're  real  dyed-in- 
the-wool  desperadoes  and  there's  a  reward  of  five 
thousand  dollars  for  capturing  them." 

Tish  went  rather  white,  but  said  nothing.  Aggie, 
however,  went  into  a  paroxysm  of  sneezing,  and  did 
not  revive  until  given  aromatic  ammonia  to  inhale. 

"I  was  fooled  at  first  too,"  the  young  man  said. 
"We'd  been  expecting  a  holdup  and  when  it  came 
we  thought  it  was  the  faked  one.  But  the  person" 
—  he  paused  and  looked  round  —  "the  person  who 
had  the  real  jolt  was  Helen.  She  followed  them, 
since  they  did  n't  take  her  for  ransom,  as  had  been 
agreed  in  the  plot. 

"Then,  when  she  found  her  mistake,  they  took 
her  along,  for  fear  she'd  ride  off  and  raise  the  alarm. 
All  in  all,"  he  said  reflectively,  "it  has  been  worth 
about  a  million  dollars  to  me." 

We  went  into  the  hotel,  with  the  crowd  following 
us,  and  the  first  thing  we  saw  was  Mrs.  Ostermaier, 
sitting  dejectedly  by  the  fire.  When  she  saw  us,  she 
sprang  to  her  feet  and  came  to  meet  us. 

370 


TISH  

"Oh,  Miss  Tish,  Miss  Tish!"  she  said.  "What  I 
have  been  through!  Attacked  on  a  lonely  mountain- 
top  and  robbed  of  everything.  My  reason  is  almost 
gone.  And  my  earrings,  my  beautiful  earrings!" 

Tish  said  nothing,  but,  reaching  into  her  reticule, 
which  she  had  taken  from  the  horn  of  her  saddle,  she 
drew  out  a  number  of  things. 

"Here,"  she  said.  "Are  your  earrings.  Here  also 
is  Mr.  Ostermaier's  cigar-case,  but  empty.  Here  is 
some  money  too.  I'll  keep  that,  however,  until  I 
know  how  much  you  lost." 

"Tish!"  screeched  Mrs.  Ostermaier.  "You  found 
them!" 

"Yes,"  Tish  said  somewhat  wearily,  "we  found 
them.  We  found  a  number  of  things,  Mrs.  Oster 
maier,  —  four  bandits,  and  two  lovers,  or  rather 
three,  but  so  no  longer,  and  your  things,  and  a  re 
ward  of  five  thousand  dollars,  and  an  engagement 
ring.  I  think,"  she  said,  "that  I'd  like  a  hot  bath 
and  something  to  eat." 

Mrs.  Ostermaier  was  gloating  over  her  earrings, 
but  she  looked  up  at  Tish's  tired  and  grimy  face,  at 
the  mud  encrusted  on  me  from  my  accident  the  day 
before,  at  Aggie  in  her  turban. 

"Go  and  wash,  all  of  you,"  she  said  kindly,  "and 
I'll  order  some  hot  tea." 

But  Tish  shook  her  head.  "Tea  nothing!"  she 
said  firmly.  "I  want  a  broiled  sirloin  steak  and  po 
tatoes.  And"  —  she  looked  Mrs.  Ostermaier  full  in 
the  eye  -  "  I  am  going  to  have  a  cocktail.  I  need  it." 

371 


TISH 

Late  that  evening  Aggie  came  to  Tish's  room, 
where  I  was  sitting  with  her.  Tish  was  feeling  en 
tirely  well,  and  more  talkative  than  I  can  remember 
her  in  years.  But  the  cocktail,  which  she  felt,  she 
said,  in  no  other  way,  had  gone  to  her  legs. 

"It  is  not/'  she  observed,  "that  I  cannot  walk.  I 
can,  perfectly  well.  But  I  am  obliged  to  keep  my 
eyes  on  my  feet,  and  it  might  be  noticed." 

"I  just  came  in,"  Aggie  said,  "to  say  that  Helen 
and  her  lover  have  made  it  up.  They  are  down  by 
the  lake  now,  and  if  you  will  look  out  you  can  see 
them." 

I  gave  Tish  an  arm  to  the  window,  and  the  three 
of  us  stood  and  looked  out.  The  moon  was  rising 
over  the  snow-capped  peaks  across  the  lake,  and 
against  its  silver  pathway  the  young  people  stood 
outlined.  As  we  looked  he  stooped  and  kissed  her. 
But  it  was  a  brief  caress,  as  if  he  had  just  remem 
bered  the  strong  hand  and  being  a  doormat  long 
enough. 

Tish  drew  a  long  breath. 

"What,"  she  said,  "is  more  beautiful  than  young 
love?  It  will  be  a  comfort  to  remember  that  we 
brought  them  together.  Let  go  of  me  now,  Lizzie. 
If  I  keep  my  eye  on  the  bedpost  I  think  I  can  get 
back." 

THE   END 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .   S    .   A 


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